Flickering Souls
by RemedyChill
Summary: Christmas fic. Sequel to Gambit's Terms. Jean leaves the team, Kurt goes mad, and Scott's hot after ... Rogue? What the hell's going on here? If it shouldnt happen in an evofic, it will happen here! Please RR and Enjoy!
1. Default Chapter

Flickering Souls

An X-Men Evolution Fanfic by Remedy=Chill

Chapter One: Christmas Eve and the Gift of Charity

Kurt pulled his jacket tight around him as he walked through the snow-covered streets of Bayville. He was wrapped against the cold, but today – he wore no holographic disguise. 

A part of him was flush with excitement – the possibility of getting caught, the steady insights of the last week that led him here – and of course, the spirit of the holiday. After all, it was Christmas Eve.

He held his hat to his head as the wind blew, stirring up the lightly fallen snow in to tiny dancing whirlpools.

Somehow he knew she would be here, again.

__

At the end of the block by the back door of the red building. He told himself. 

He turned the corner and saw her footprints in the snow, tracing the side of the building, and he followed them down in to the darkness.

And soon there was movement in the shadows, and he knew – she was now aware of him.

"You're Misty." He called in to the shadows, knowing she was not. "Rogue's friend, right?"

The darkness shifted and swayed for a moment before she stepped out of the shadows. "Right." She said over the wind, hugging herself. "You're Kurt, aren't you?" She looked hesitantly at his undisguised face.

Kurt smiled. _And the dance begins …_

"_Ja_." He told her, stepping up closer so as to be heard. "Rogue told me … _about your parents_." He began, watching her face carefully. "And I'm sorry to hear it." He smiled shyly but didn't let her speak.

She looked slightly confused. _Parents …_

"I thought I could tell you something – about my mother." He said softly, setting the trap.

The girl looked torn. She was solid and stoic but something inside wouldn't let her walk away.

"What is it?" She said softly raising one eyebrow – quickly – as she said the word 'it'.

Kurt leaned his head toward the doorway. "Out of the cold." He told her, and after eyeing him cautiously, she stepped in to the doorway with him, out of the wind.

"My mother and I have major political differences." He told her. "Like most people, she stumbled a few steps down a dark path, but … she never recovered. It's been her path ever since."

The girl looked hard and cold.

"And I don't care." He said. "Not about that and almost not at all." 

She blinked twice, surprised.

"We may fight, and hurt each other, and for good reason sometimes too." He smiled at her. "And that wont change until she does." He told her plainly. "But if that were to happen, and the effort were to be made, she would discover that she had a world beyond the one she knows. She would discover a son, and maybe _more_."

The girls eyes were large and round. She wore a look of puzzlement and curiosity. A part of her felt unmasked, as though he had seen through her, but another part – rather than unmasked, felt discovered.

"The point is_, I love her_." He said softly. "No matter _what_ she's done." He smiled. "I was born with this love, and I will die with it." He touched his chest over his heart.

He smirked at her. "Remember what I've said." He told her. "Because it's important to understand that when it comes to children and parents – when they're dealing with each other – the rules of the outside world don't apply. Hearts and Souls are all that matter."

"Hearts can change. And Souls can grow." He said. "They're mutants, like us – me and my mother, that is."

He smiled at her, seeing that she had relaxed despite herself.

"Merry Christmas." He told her softly. "I hope things with your family all work out, so that you can all be together again someday."

The statement seemed to send a chill through her.

"Thank you." She said quickly, before turning away, and not looking back as she departed.

Kurt smiled to himself as she turned the corner out of sight.

She rounded the corner and let her shape revert to normal. She stepped in to her car and turned the ignition, then turned on the heat.

__

He knew. She told herself. _He knew it was you._

__

How could he? How could he see through me? And how would he know I was here?

She cursed herself.

And then, slowly, and unexpectedly, as the heat began to warm her, his words began to sink in.

"The point is_, I love her_." He said softly in the back of her mind.

She sank slowly in to the soft leather seat. The car was getting warm now and she was feeling far more comfortable.

And the thought came again, this time without the fear or the worry.

__

He knew. She thought again. _He knew it was you and …_

She fought the desire to mistrust his motives. But lost. She turned the wheel and rolled out on to the road.

The lights in front of her turned green and she let the car gain some speed. The further away she got, the safer she felt. 

And she gave herself over to the distraction of driving home.

When she finally reached her house and stepped out of the car she had a perfect moment of understanding.

__

He **did** know. She realized. _He's clever... He made me take Misty's shape so that he could say what he wanted_.

And all that prattle about her 'parents' …But why? Why …

She shook her head and sat back down in the car and closed the door_._

"He _loves_ me." She said softly, and then … she smiled. 


	2. Flickering Souls Ch02 One Week Before ...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Two: One Week Before Christmas

"Ha'lo chere." The man sat swathed in shadows.

Rogue jumped and spun to face the voice. He sounded like that stooge of Magneto's, albeit, she had to admit to herself, _That cute stooge of Magneto's._

She had been about to scream but he didn't move, and it wasn't who she thought_. Or was it?_

"Do I know you?" She asked, forgetting for a moment that this was a large, strange and unknown man in her room.

"Yes and No." He said. "You met da Remy who's 'sposed to be in this world." He flashed a dashing smile. "I another one."

"And you're not supposed to be in this world?" She sounded suspicious and looked the part as well.

Gambit chuckled. "Dat's right. And I come to aks you a question."

Rogue looked him over again. He still hadn't moved or made any threatening gestures. "Me?"

He nodded. "You see, I got this friend."

But she cut him off "Magneto?"

He smiled. "No. Not Magneto."

"Are you sure?" She eyed him warily.

"Yes, now I sure. Gambit not your worlds Remy. Okay? Get it strait. I a good guy." He looked imploringly at her.

"Okay." Rogue held up her hands in surrender. "Don't flip out or anything."

"**_I not Flipping. ._** ." Gambit stopped, cast his eyes up at the ceiling and took a long slow breath and composed himself. "Where were we?"

"You had a friend who's not Magneto." She hinted.

"Right." Gambit looked at her as thought this point made all that Magneto talk ridiculous.

"Is it?" Rogue prompted.

"Oh, sure. You see, dis friend, once a year, and for Christmas, he like to do something nice for someone." 

He smiled and nodded. "Last year, he did something nice for me." He seemed to beam at the memory and briefly, Rogue wondered what it had been. 

"And this year, he's got plans to do something nice for someone else – someone who my friend thinks really deserves something nice."

Rogue was falling slowly under his spell. The more he talked, the more inclined she was to just stare let his words flow around her. The rhythm and pattern of his speech were almost hypnotic.

__

Of course she would _really like to help_. It's nice to do nice things for deserving people. And for Christmas, it would be doubly nice, now wouldn't it? 

And it wasn't really until the man was gone, and Rogue had gone about her day, then fallen to sleep that night, and awoken with the thought "I agreed to WHAT?"

But it was too late. She had signed the contract.

Meanwhile, just down the hall Kurt found himself in a suit and tie – being seated across a negotiation table from another person in a suit.

The other man opened a yellow legal pad and pulled out a pen.

"Okay." The man began. "So tell me – what would you most like to experience on an Earthly level – with no repercussions?"

Kurt considered this. It seemed a totally acceptable question and not at all out of place.

At first, Kurt's thought of Rogue, but lately it seemed that she had finally lowered her defenses and become family. And while he wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, there was no need to explore it in fantasy now that he could do so in reality.

"My dark side." He said at last. "I want to understand what motivates it and maybe – why my mothers darker side has enslaved her." He leveled his gaze across the table.

The man scribbled some notes.

"And in return for this – you would be willing – to sign a waiver?" He asked plainly.

"So long as it's truly … _safe_." He said at last. "I can't be responsible for doing any permanent damage to anyone or anything." He bit his lip "Or …"

"What else?" The man asked, sensing a contractual point that needed to be attended to.

"I can't be responsible for … I don't vant to know why I would…" He looked frustrated at his inability to express the point.

And a light went on in the other man's mind. "Ahhh… I see. You're afraid that a path to evil will always be open to you from this point on."

Kurt nodded slowly. "That's close to what I mean." He confirmed.

"I think I understand." The man said, scribbling some more notes. "It's a very valid point, considering your interest and opposing occupation." He looked up and snapped his fingers. Another man appeared through a door and snatched up the note pad.

He then disappeared out of the room.

The man capped his pen. "I assure you that in return for your signature, by your journeys end, all shall be as it was before – with harm to none."

Kurt nodded solemnly, but then, his mind turned to Rogue.

"And Rogue, she's really going to get …" He faltered. "I mean, my signing this …"

The man smiled "Yes, we need three signatures – and without all three, no one gets anything. Your signature assures that both your conditions and Rogues will be met."

The man who had disappeared with the pad returned with a newly printed version of the contract and then scurried away quickly.

"So this helps her too." Kurt nodded several times. 

"Helps her get exactly what she wants – just as it helps you get exactly what you want." The man nodded.

"Vhere do I sign?" Kurt asked softly.

In response the man smiled and slid the contract across the table. The bottom was marked with a large and obvious 'X'

Rogue jumped out of bed and tore down the hall. Forgetting her manners, she threw open Kurt's door and pounced on the poor, sleeping Elf.

"Kurt." She shook him. "Kuuuurrrrrtttt!" His eyes fluttered and he recoiled in alarm.

"Vat? Vat is it?" He grabbed her by her sleeves and stopped her from moving.

"Kurt?" Her eyes were searching his. "Did you sign the contract? He said he couldn't do it unless all three of us signed. I didn't realize – the THREE of us Kurt. Don't you see? The third one?" He looked lost. "Did you sign the contract?"

"Yes." He breathed. "Just now. But how did you know vat I vas dreaming?"

"That wasn't a dream Kurt." She turned and slumped off the edge of the bed to sit on the floor.

"Vat vas it?" He sounded concerned "Vat's going on?"

"I think we just signed up to do a Remedy=Chill Christmas story." She spit the words slowly.

Kurt's jaw flapped twice as he tried to recall that name. He had heard it somewhere before. "Chill?" He said at last "Like that guy who. . ." But the vision was becoming clear to him.

"Yeah, that guy who wrote Gambit's Terms and rewrote that other universe last year." She sounded disgusted, mostly because the story was always locked in Xavier's safe.

"He fixed it." Kurt reminded her. "No one even knew the difference after."

"Well, they wouldn't now would they?" She cast him a look over her shoulder. "He'd write it like that!"

"And didn't they do something to make sure he wouldn't almost destroy the universe again?" Kurt was starting to feel a little angry about getting woken up in the middle of the night.

"Yeah, they passed a law that he had to get the main character, and two supporting characters, at least two of which had to be hero's to sign permission contracts. They figure that with at least two x-men on the case. . ."

"That someone would catch it? How could ve be so stupid?" He looked at her in disbelief. "Did you even look at a script?"

She swallowed once, smiled sadly, and shook her head, side to side. 

"Dis is vat we get for reading the Professor's confidential files last week." 

Kurt suddenly brightened. "But vait, there's still a chance, right, a third contract?"

Rogue looked more alone and unreachable than Kurt had ever seen her. "Who in Bayville do we know who would contact a renegade author, endanger the very fabric of our reality, AND want you and I to round out a Christmas story?"

Kurt searched her eyes but the answers weren't there. No one came to mind because his mind refused to drift beyond the mansion walls.

"Who?" He asked, shaking his head in confusion.

And suddenly, Rogue didn't want to tell him. She wanted to shoulder the burden and protect him the way he would have tried to protect her.

But she couldn't protect him from this. "Kurt. It's gonna be Her. It's gonna be _Mystique_."


	3. Flickering Souls Ch03 Scott and Xavier

Flickering Souls

Chapter Three: Scott and Xavier

The man had been hanging around the front gate for almost twenty minutes. Twenty-one minutes was, Scott told himself, his limit for allowing people to hang idly around the front gate.

He stood inside the front window, staring at his watch, and only occasionally glancing up to see if the man was still there.

Scott's watch flipped the minute hand and he watched the second hand sweep around another twenty seconds before smiling to himself, starting out the door, and then down the driveway.

"Like, wow man." The strange little man shook his head slightly. "You're really _you_, aren't you."

"I think so." Scott replied. "Can I help you with something?"

"Oh, sure. I want you to take my picture with the sign." He gestured to the mansions address plate.

"Ooooookay …" Scott stepped out of the gate and took the small disposable camera from the man, then took his picture in front of the sign.

"Now, can I get one in front of the mansion, like from here?" The man asked.

Scott took two steps back and took the other picture. 

"Excellent." The man nodded and reached for his camera. When he got it back, he took another step closer to Scott and extended the camera to arms length and took a picture of the two of them talking to each other.

The man then snatched Scott's hand and pumped it twice. "Really man, this was a real treat. Thanks a million.""

"No, ahhh, no problem." Scott told him.

And the man snapped another picture of Scott. "Far out." He exclaimed again. "See!" He said enthusiastically. "You're not all that stuck-up!"

"Ahh, thanks." Scott volunteered.

"No problem." The man grinned and waved as he wandered away – before taking another picture of Scott – from a distance this time. 

As Scott headed back up the driveway he could hear the man behind the wall.

"Far – freakin' – out!"

Scott shook his head, amused.

"Fru – uit – cake!" He told himself, as he headed back to the mansion.

Later that afternoon Scott met with Xavier. "Scott, please, do come in." 

The Professor sat behind his desk and Scott entered slowly.

"You sent for me Professor?"

"Yes. I hear you met a visitor at the gate today." Xavier smiled. He was amused despite himself.

"Yeah. A real nut. I figured it would have happened sooner, like right after the world discovered we were mutants."

"Have you ever heard of Fanfic?" Xavier asked Scott.

Scott shook his head "No."

Xavier steepled his fingers and considered his words. "That was no ordinary gawker today Scott."

Scott hesitated. "No?" He asked slowly, shaking his head.

"No." Xavier confirmed. "He wasn't even from our dimension."

Scott swallowed nervously.

"He's the fourth tourist we've had in the last two weeks. All from off-world and calling themselves 'fans'."

"Fans of what?" Scott asked quickly.

"That's trickier to explain, but the short answer is: Us." Xavier smiled at his confusion. "Perhaps it would be easier if I explained your mission."

"My mission sir?"

"Yes. I think you're ready to solo and I believe that this particular assignment will be to your liking." Xavier leaned back in a seemingly infinite patience and nodded to himself as he considered this statement.

"There is an extradimentional … entity. He calls himself The Author."

Scott's eyebrow rose skeptically.

"He is the one whose been sending the fans to our door."

"But, why?" Scott wondered out loud. "What's he want?"

"I believe that the fans were to attract my attention and let me know when he would be in town and where to find him. He very specifically told each of them a piece of the puzzle that I could easily perceive telepathically." Xavier smiled. "Although that wasn't entirely obvious until the two girls appeared at the gate on Thursday."

Scott cocked his ear like a dog listening to his masters voice.

"They were …" Xavier cleared his throat. "Fans of Kurt's."

"Kurt?" Scott asked, surprised.

"Yes. Apparently he has quite a following off world."

"He is a character." Scott leaned back, relaxing.

"Too true." Xavier smiled. "But back to the subject at hand. This Author, he writes us."

"He writes to us?" Scott asked.

"No. He writes us. Some of the people of his world are authors. And an even fewer number write the events that unfold in our lives." 

Scott shook his head reflexively. "No." He said plainly.

"Come now Scott, haven't you ever noticed an event unfolding around you with some indication of organization or planning that's beyond the control of those in our world?"

"Of course." Scott agreed quickly. "But …"

"They don't script everything Scott." Xavier smiled. "Nor are they aware of our every day actions. Further more, not everything they write actually comes to pass." Xavier grimaced. "That's where the fans come in."

"Readers." Scott realized quickly. "They read what he writes …"

"And somehow, that psycho-spiritual energy derived from all those imaginations focusing on us …"

"… Acts like telekinesis." Scott concluded. "It motivates events to unfold around us in a particular manner."

"And has an effect on us as well, like a series of telepathic and subconscious suggestions that we can not differentiate from our own thoughts and impulses." Xavier finished.

"So … What does he want?" Scott asked again.

"His motivations are his own." Xavier shrugged. "However, his methods are not." Xavier pulled a manuscript out of his desk.

"This is a story he wrote, called Gambit's Terms." He explained. "It was set in another dimension, where Gambit – that card thrower of Magneto's – had seen the error of his ways … but done so too late. This other Gambit spent his life as an X-Man trying to atone for his past … a past and path which denied him a real future."

Scott sat in rapt attention.

"But this story was different. Most stories of this kind create small branch universes, and once the story plays out, the newer universe collapses back in to the root universe when the differences are no longer relevant."

"But it was different?"

"Indeed." Xavier sighed, then met Scott's eyes. "He re-wrote the root universe. He completely altered the past and future of an entire world in order to provide one man with a chance at the life he could never have."

"What happened?" Scott asked with a dry mouth.

Xavier smiled. "He was reprimanded and certain restriction were set in place to insure that such a thing could not happen again."

Scott relaxed slightly.

"Of course, he's found a way around them." Xavier watched Scott sit bolt upright. "And I do believe he's planning to re-write our root universe."

"When?" Scott asked.

"In about four hours." Xavier said, staring at his watch for a second.

"What can we do?" Scott asked.

"Well, fighting such an entity would be futile. I'm told it results in our appearing – badly written." He grimaced. "And so I have decided to try another approach." He smiled. "I'm sending you to request that he include you in his story."

"What good will that do?" Scott was puzzled.

"I want you to remind him of his obligations to us – the original inhabitants of this universe."

"But how?" Scott felt like panicking at the thought of facing a whole, new world alone.

"My best explanation is that he will see your words. And should he need prompting or reminding …"

"I see." Scott said. "But …"

"Please, let me finish." The Professor interjected. "Because you need to know a few more things before you're ready, and we've little time."

Scott nodded apologetically.

"First, his plan for this year is to give three gifts. One of Hope, one of Charity, and one of Contentment. He has already made it clear who will be receiving the gifts of hope and charity. I want you to ask for the gift of contentment."

"But I am content Professor." Scott argued. "I …"

The Professor smiled and leaned across the desk. "Scott, I am the worlds most powerful telepath. You may fool some of the people, some of the time …"

Scott dropped his eyes. He was content in all things, save for one.

"So you know?" Scott asked.

Xavier smiled. "I know only that a missed opportunity was pointed out to you, rather brazenly, and since then it has been a source of discomfort in your life."

"You know who …"

Xavier waved his hand between them, silencing Scott.

"I know that it does not matter. That you are perfectly willing to live on, bearing the brunt of your emotions and feeling like you've failed a test you were never given." Xavier explained. "But I need a man on the inside, and this is important. I want you to ask for his gift."

"Of course." Scott assured him. "Anything I can do."

"Now, there are two more points I need to address." Xavier took a deep breath. "I have had the opportunity to review what he has written – at least, what he's written in to our world. I'm technically not permitted to have this copy of Gambit's Terms. It's been outlawed in all the rewriteable dimensions – so that no one gets any idea's about contacting an author."

Xavier sighed. " Scott … He wrote Abair." (For full details see Everything Important by Remedy=Chill)

"WHAT?" Scott realized quite suddenly that he had risen to his feet.

"Now, calm down." Xavier told him.

"He wrote Abair. The guy who put me up against the wall and …"

Xavier smiled kindly and sympathetically. "And told you about Rogue's feelings for you. Yes."

Scott dropped back in to his seat, deflated. "A little late really, since I was already with Jean."

"And both Abair, and The Author understood that Scott. They weren't asking you to violate that trust."

"I know." He replied softly, his eyes cast down to the floor.

"I wasn't happy with that fact either Scott." Xavier prompted. "I was very concerned for Rogue after Abair's departure, and I felt responsible for introducing them." He explained. "To discover that some form of higher power brought that about, on purpose no less, was very disturbing."

Scott raised his eyes. "Why would he write something like that? Why would anyone?"

Xavier reminded himself that there were things about Abair that Scott still did not know. 

Xavier leaned back and considered the young man before him. He had grown so much, changed more than Xavier could have foreseen, and still, he asks the same questions as when he first came to the mansion. Of course, then it had been about Magneto.

"I think .. It bothered him." Xavier swallowed, feeling the discomfort he spoke of. "He wanted to be sure that – at least once – She was happy." His voice was almost a whisper as he finished speaking. 

Scott sat, alone in the silence. 

Xavier wiped his eye, almost distractedly. 

"Was there something else?" Scott asked at last.

"Yes." Xavier nodded. "He seems to have … favorite … characters ….in the different universes he affects. People he's willing to… go out of his way for."

"Like Rogue." Scott observed.

"In our world, yes. Rogue, Kurt … But …"

"But?"

"Well, not so much … you." Xavier shrugged.

"He doesn't … like me?" Scott asked, shocked.

"Er, ah …" Xavier smiled plainly, there was no other way to say it. "No. He doesn't like you."

Scott tossed his hands in to the air with a quick and absurd grin. "So, when do I leave – or for that matter, why would he give me his gift?"

"You leave immediately." Xavier told him. "And I believe that he will include you because when he wrote Abair – he wrote him to be fair. A quirky pain in the ass – but fair, and decent. And those traits had to come from somewhere. Not to mention …" Xavier narrowed his eyes "He owes you the chance to make good on your word – because it was he who made you promise it in the first place."

Scott nodded respectfully, nervous but ready to try his best, and Xavier handed him the address.


	4. Flickering Souls Ch04 Scott and The Au...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Four: Scott and The Author

Soon enough Scott found himself at the address the Professor had provided. It was a large brick building that resembled a tower. It seemed to dwarf everything around it and Scott couldn't believe that he had never seen it before. A part of him wondered if it had been there last week but he dismissed the thought as fantasy.

Scott knocked tentatively on the door, and despite being locked just a moment ago, it opened easily and under it's own power on his third knock.

"Hello?" Scott poked his head inside. 

A bell sounded and he turned toward the noise. It was an elevator arriving. The doors opened and it was empty.

Inside the elevator was a directory of names and addresses. 

Scott pulled out the slip of paper that Xavier had given him. It had no room or floor number.

Scott eyed the sign without entering the elevator. Sure enough he found it_. The Author – Top floor._

Scott stepped in and the doors snapped shut behind him. He turned to find that there were no buttons to push – just a readout of the current floor level.

The elevator car began to shake and wobble as it shot, full speed, toward the top of the building. The floor counter was a wild blur. Dust shook loose from the ceiling. Scott braced himself against the handrail and debated the best way to stop the car with his optic blast.

And then … it all stopped.

The bell sounded again and the doors opened.

A woman sitting at a desk across the room pushed a button on her phone and announced "Sir, I believe your three o'clock has arrived."

"Show him in." A voice replied.

The woman smiled politely. "Rough ride, isn't it?" She asked with a smile.

Scott nodded.

"He's right in here." She pursed her lips. "I should probably tell you …" She paused before the closed door. "He's not very fond of you." She seemed to radiate sympathy.

"Any idea why?" Scott asked, trying to put the degradation to good use.

The woman shrugged apologetically. "I heard him call you 'anal' once." She offered.

"Thanks." Scott told her, although he wasn't real sure why, and she opened the door.

She closed it again behind him.

The Author was not what Scott had expected. They were roughly the same height and build. The Author wore glasses, a ponytail and two silver rings. He sat at a comfortable computer desk and the soft glow of the monitor lit his face.

"Ummm…" Scott began.

The Author smiled slightly. "Great dialog Scott. You're making me look bad." He confirmed.

Scott steeled himself against the moment.

"Sorry." Scott said. "I've been a little pre-occupied with everyone telling me how much you hate me."

The Author smiled. "I can't say I actually hate anyone." He explained. "I just find you … disappointing."

"How so?" Scott wondered out loud.

"Unfairly, mostly. I mean, you are what you are. It's just …" He considered him. "You exist in other places too you know, other dimensions and such. And most of you, the other Scott Summers …" He shrugged. "They're more genuine. They trust their own leadership abilities enough to be people too." He smiled. "In their spare time, any way."

Scott stared at him, speechless for a moment before quietly adding. "I am what … and who I am."

The Author eyed him. "But are you still trying to be more? Or did you quit trying once you got comfortable?"

Scott balked. There was a side of him that didn't want to push his luck – his life with Xavier had been more than he could have hoped – could it be that he had forgot to want more? Had he grown complacent?

"But that's not why we're here." The Author told him. 

"No." Scott agreed. "I came to ask you for a …"

"A gift." The Author told him. "I know."

"You do?" Scott asked.

And the Author spun his monitor to face Scott. The last line read : And the Author spun his monitor to face Scott.

"You've been watching us." Scott decided as the words appeared on the screen. 

The Author swung it back in to his view.

"Writing you actually. I'm writing this now." He replied.

"How?" Scott asked.

"In my world, on a computer. I'm not really here." He told him.

"Am I?" Scott asked – forcing the Author to smile.

"Quite a question, isn't it? Even in my world." The Author smiled. "But it's best to avoid dwelling on stuff like that. It causes headaches."

"I'll bet." Scott told him.

"Forgive me, please sit down." The Author smiled and Scott lowered himself in to one of the chairs that faced his desk.

"So, about the gift of contentment."

"Done." The Author told him quickly.

"What?' Scott had expected more of a … something.

"Sure." The Author told him. "Xavier made some good points a few pages back."

"So why am I here?" Scott asked.

And the Author pulled out a contract. "Just sign here." 

Scott picked up the pen. "At the X, right."

"Naturally." The Author told him.

And Scott signed the contract.

"Hey …" Scott eyed the signed contract. "This date – that not this Christmas. This is for next Christmas."

The Author lifted his hand and Scott realized that he no longer had the contract – The Author did. "Good call." He told Scott. "I've already got my three signatures for this year. So I'm banking this one for next year."

"Is that … fair?" It suddenly occurred to Scott that Xavier hadn't told him to sign anything.

"Fair?" The Author looked perturbed. "Do you want to talk about fair? I did this last year as a part of an exchange with another dimensions Gambit. In return for his chance to live a decent life – He would introduce mutancy in to my world using the same techniques I used to manipulate your world."

"Wow." Scott sat stunned. "Why?" He shook his head. "It's a hassle."

"Because it's necessary." He snapped. "I'm sorry." He looked away. "You just don't know my world."

The Author looked Scott in the eye. "Trust me – no one there is doing anything at all – to aid in the evolution of our species."

"That's why you don't like me, isn't it. Because you think I'm not trying." It was a statement and not a question.

The Author nodded as he spoke. "When you seem to have an almost infinite number of opportunities to do otherwise."

"Okay." Scott said. "So make me earn it – this gift of yours. If your whole world has my problem – if you understand it so well - then teach me something."

The Author flashed an unsettling grin and cast him a cold and sterile glare. "I intend to."

"What happened, with the mutancy in your world?" Scott asked.

"Someone slipped a date in to the final draft. I suspect a conspiracy. They set it in the future – December 21, 2012. And now I have to keep the attention of my readers and keep the plot line running until then if I want it to happen."

"I'm sorry." Scott said softly, surprised to find that he meant it.

"Don't sweat it." The Author smiled smugly.

"So how does this begin?" Scott asked hesitantly.

"Like this." The Author told him.

And The Author clapped his hands once, quickly and Scott vanished in to a puff of soft purple smoke.


	5. Flickering Souls Ch05 Changing Lanes

Flickering Souls

Chapter Five: Changing Lanes

Scott awoke with a start. He was in his bed at the mansion. The hallway outside teemed with life and activity. The ground outside the window was not covered in snow. The grounds were green and the sun was dipping low in the sky.

__

This is the day. Scott realized. _The day that Mezmero took over Jean's mind and made her steal for Apocalypse. _(As detailed in the episode Mindbender)

He stared quietly out the window.

__

But what am I doing here. Am I supposed to stop it?

He grimaced. _How can I just let it happen?_

Scott turned away from the window and bashed his knee painfully. He dropped to the ground, grasping it in pain.

"What the hell?" He demanded upon seeing what he had walked in to.

It was a large, chrome switch that resembled the throttle of a train. It was shifted all the way to one side and seemed to be mounted directly to the floor with four large chrome bolts. It was definitely not there yesterday.

A moment later Scott stood up and slowly regained the strength in his knee.

He eyed the switch from all angles as he circled it. He reached out and took hold of the handle. It felt electric, as though energy was flowing through it and he understood suddenly, what he was to do.

He pushed the lever slowly forward and images flooded his mind. First he saw Jean, stealing the first ring, then coming back for Kurt to go after the second. The whole event rolled through his mind and he realized that as he was pushing the switch, he was undoing this future event. It would happen differently this time if he continued to throw the switch.

__

It will be worse! He realized. _It will be destructive this time!_

And he could hear the Authors voice in the back of his mind. "All pain is growing pain Scott – So long as you learn from it."

The sun was dropping past the horizon as he pushed the lever. Time was passing as a breakneck speed around him. Clouds tore through the sky and the casual activity of people moving about the mansion buzzed around him like giant mad insects.

And Scott buried his fears and his hesitation. He had signed up for this duty and he was bound and determined to see it through. He forced the switch away from his body and it stopped with a loud click. 

Then it melted and dissolved in to nothing, right out of his hand.

He glanced up at the door and …

__

What am I doing out of bed in the middle of the night? He wondered. _And why does my knee hurt?_

He looked around the room and then turned inward for answers.

__

Jean …

Something nagged at him. He couldn't remember what it was. 

__

But maybe … Maybe it had something to do with Jean. He reasoned, since she was all that had come to mind. 

And he set out to find her.

The instant that he did, he knew something was horribly wrong. She was in uniform and hovering above the floor. Her eyes were glassy and she seemed to look right through him when he spoke.

"Jean, what is it? What's wrong?"

Mezmero's eyes flew open. _Blast it!_ He thought_. My control over her isn't strong enough yet!_

And Scott could see that Jean was waking up and coming around. Her eyes began to clear and she looked at him.

"Scott …" She said lovingly.

"NO!" Mezmero shouted, his mind racing with images of the torment and torture he would receive in return for a failure in this matter. 

Mezmero took hold of her mind and threw it wide open, looking for a weakness.

Jean twitched once and lost her concentration. Her eyes fluttered and she began to fall to the floor. 

Scott lurched forward to try and catch her.

But Mezmero found what he was looking for. A single thought that she had expressed as a child.

"We're like Gods, aren't we?" She had asked almost innocently, staring up in to Xavier's eyes.

And he had told her no, that they were not like Gods or God. They were people, just like everybody else.

"But maybe …" He had added. "We are like the people who once called themselves Gods." 

And in her young mind – it was the same thing.

"Yes!" Mezmero could see his victory clearly now. And he threw that mental switch in her mind. The one that let her understand that she was a God among men.

And she caught herself in mid air. Her eyes had gone wild and she adopted a maniacal smile. Her attention focused on Scott and she saw him for what he was – someone in her way. She understood clearly that releasing Apocalypse was the only way to remain a God.

Scott's mind filled with static and a million high-pitched whines of varying keys and intensities.

"Ach!" He collapsed to his hands and knees, breathing hard. "JEAN!!" He roared above the din in his mind.

__

No! Jean thought, knowing that he had sounded the alarm. _Now I can't come back!_

Doors began to fly open all over the mansion. Kitty charged through the wall – but she was still out of phase and Jean couldn't sense her strongly enough to affect her mind. 

And then Kurt appeared before her in a cloud of gray brimstone smoke. 

__

Yes! Mezmero whispered to her mentally. _Take him now while you have the chance!_

Kurt suddenly cocked his head to one side as he felt Jean's telepathic touch. He expected her to explain what was happening or to give him instructions on how to help.

Instead he felt his body arc. She was setting off all of the pleasure centers of his brain. All the joy and passion he had ever felt in his lifetime was coursing through him at once at Jeans command. He collapsed in to his trust and the feeling – and she had him.

She had found his moment, his one thought. 

__

Am I really a demon? He had asked that mirror so many years ago.

In response, he heard her whisper seductively_. No! You are a God!_

And he believed her.

His mind flooded with The Great Undertaking; The act of releasing and raising Apocalypse. 

Kurt's face hardened in to a twisted, grinning mask. He turned to Scott who was rising to stand.

Kurt leapt up and kicked Scott between the eyes, breaking his glasses.

Kitty gasped and Kurt and Jean both whipped their heads around to face her. She stumbled two steps back and fell through the wall. _Professor_! She screamed mentally in an almost blind panic. _Something is WRONG!_

Rogue came flying on to the scene in time to see Kitty 'retreat' through the wall. She could tell that Kurt was landing from a jumping kick and she saw Scott go down in a heap against the wall.

"Get away from him!" She roared, throwing herself toward the group.

She felt Jean reaching out toward her mind and anger took her completely. She threw all her momentum in to her fist and planted it against Jean's jaw

Jean's head snapped back and she fell against Kurt who grabbed her and with a smug nod to Rogue teleported himself and Jean away.

"Jean?" Scott asked, his arm wrapped over his eyes.

"No Scott." Rogue said softly. "They're gone now."

Scott let her help him up. He lowered his arm slowly but kept his eyes tightly shut. "Rogue?"

"Yeah?" She asked, concerned.

"Thanks." He said softly before setting his jaw in anger.


	6. Flickering Souls Ch06 Reversal of Fort...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Six: A Reversal of Fortune

Life at the mansion was thrown in to chaos. Tracking Jean and Kurt had become a constant preoccupation for some of the residents. 

They almost had them when they stole the third ring that opened the first door of Apocalypse.

And again when Magneto was duped in to destroying the spider guardian and opened the second door.

Both times they were flanking Mezmero and covering his escape. Then the contact became erratic. Cerebro detected them in different locations and correlated them with robberies and thefts that related in no way to Apocalypse and his doors.

Rogue watched Scott stare down in to the monitor. 

"She's really lucky you know." Rogue said at last with an envious tone.

Scott looked up and discovered that they were alone. They had ended many nights like this; Refusing to give up and hoping each moment that the case might break and they could find their friends.

More often than not it was they that broke instead of the case. And the other was always there, supportive and understanding in a way that no one else could be. Rogue, looking for her brother and Scott looking for his girl. 

But the time and distance had taken its toll on both of them. And so, they became each other's strength.

"Jean." Rogue continued. "She's really lucky to have you looking for her." She nodded. "Every time I run out of steam, I look up and there you are, still going strong."

Scott smiled down at her. She looked exhausted. He smiled and she could suddenly see it in his face. He was exhausted too.

"No luckier than Kurt." He whispered it quietly. He knew she was still touchy about having ignored Kurt's advances toward considering themselves 'family'. And Scott was well aware that Kurt's absence had pained her as though they were truly related.

She smiled slightly.

"I've been thinking, Rogue…" Scott looked longingly at her. _That maybe you and I could…_

He searched for just the right words. How could he tell her that he had come to admire her strength and her grace under pressure? That the last few months had shaken his conviction and his faith; and that she had slowly begun to replace the missing parts of his soul?

How do you tell a friend that they are a part of your heart? Or that you ache for them in all the quiet moments that are yours alone?

Just then Cerebro went mad.

"Kurt!" Rogues eyes flew open and she dove toward the monitor, now fully awake and aware.

"And Jean!" Scott said, rising to see the second blip form on the screen.

"They're robbing a bank." Rogue observed. "After Hours."

"Where?" The Professor rolled in, obviously in response to the alarm.

"An hour South." Scott read the telemetry

"Well then," The Professor turned to face Scott. "Ready the Jet."

And the mansion went mad with activity. Every Mutant on the property, tested or not, was uniformed and called to the ready. 

"This time." Xavier told them en route. "We bring them home."

And a dozen heads nodded appreciatively. Enough was – enough.

Meanwhile in another part of the story …

__

What? The Author thought upon hearing the elevator outside. _I don't have any appointments left for today._

But none the less, the elevator was rocketing to the top floor.

__

So help me, if Tolansky is playing with my elevator again I'll …

The author got up and began to cross the room.

The bell sounded and he heard his assistant speaking softly. Someone spoke back and for a moment, his intercom buzzed, but no message followed.

The author reached out and opened the door.

"_Wanda_!" He breathed the word in disbelief.

And that was all the time she needed. Her hand shot out before her and The Author was blown across the room. He hit the red brick wall and slid down to the floor.

His eyes shot to the computer on the desk.

__

Damn! He thought, realizing his mistake. _I wrote it with a keyboard!_

He threw himself to his feet and tried to lunge toward the computer, to turn it off and break it's connection to the outside world.

But the hardwood floors beneath him rippled and swelled then formed vines that wrapped his form in place as they grew over him with a great ripping noise.

Wanda reached out with her mind and could feel The Author. Not just the small and fragile mask that she had ensnared in vines, but the essence and the being beyond.

With a ferocious rush of anger she took hold of his mind and drew it along with her back towards the room.

And then, it was as though she had done it. A rush of crackling energy filled the room and was quite obviously flowing directly in to The Author. 

Blood ran from Wanda's nose as she tried not to comprehend the alien mind, just force it in to its vessel.

"Gotcha!" She breathed at last, her eyes wild and her red hair glistening beneath the black and matching the blood running over her lips.

And she raised her hand before he could raise protest. "Sleep now." She said before concentrating a burst of energy at his head and watching him pass out.

Briefly, Wanda swayed in place. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and wavered from side to side as she took The Author's chair.

She smiled and swallowed once. "Now." She said to herself. "Time to write myself a story." 


	7. Flickering Souls Ch07 Manipulation

Flickering Souls

Chapter Seven: Manipulation

Kurt stood in the darkness of the vault. In the movies, bank vaults were well lit and spacious. In real life they're dark and crammed full of bank property. They are at night, anyway.

He held his lantern out in front of him.

Jean hovered, swathed in shadows, opening only the most valuable of the safety deposit boxes.

__

Come on. Come on! He thought. _She's been getting slower and slower lately. She's …_ He stood up straighter with the realization_. She's slipping!_

He took a deep breath and covered his thoughts. She was occupied now, but in a moment she would sense his thoughts if he let them linger. 

He turned his mind to his newest pastime; Dwelling on sexual thoughts of Jean.

Most times she would cop an attitude and close her mind to him. This was, in fact, mostly what he wanted. Occasionally he would realize that she was indulging in his thoughts and reveling in them as flattery. This was far more rare. 

__

Then … He smiled to himself, watching the boxes pop open. _There's always the possibility of a type-three situation …_

Originally, the 'type three encounter' was a scenario that Kurt had developed in order to keep such thoughts, which served as a mental mask, safely in place. 

A type three encounter would involve Jean's reveling … Stirring her to action.

Thus far, the type-three situation had failed to arise. But it was still an attractive possibility in Kurt's mind.

Jean lowered herself slowly to the ground. For a moment she looked guilty and caught. Kurt noticed but didn't dwell on it. He kept his thoughts in type-three mode.

Jean smiled wistfully. "Kurt. Get your mind on the job." She prodded.

He could feel her pulling her thoughts back.

__

Paranoid freak. Kurt thought. _Have to check every time, don't you?_

And Kurt knew why she had to check and double check everyone. Because she was completely untrustworthy and assumed the world was the same way.

__

She looked damn guilty. Maybe it's her conscience that's making her slip …

Kurt crept along the wall, emptying the boxes.

__

And in a veek veel be broke again … Kurt sighed. _If only there was a way to just … go home and relax. Let Mezmero raise Apocalypse. Ve can be Gods vhen he's done._

He turned and watched Jean reaching out behind her. He was supposed to teleport them out now. He went to step forward but felt a large metal handle poke him in the chest.

__

Vat da hell? He thought, wrapping his hand around the handle. And the handle caught in like an electric current. He couldn't move. He could see the X-Men in their jet, winging in to intercept them. He could see that they were going to arrive too late. 

__

Unless … He pushed the handle forward on instinct and he could feel the time slipping by around him. 

Kurt didn't know why his prayers were being answered or why they were taking such a strange route to manifestation. But he had questioned very little of late. That didn't mean he wouldn't press this to his full advantage.

Kurt threw the handle forward with all his might, sensing that time was now racing about his ears. And then he was hit with another set of images. He was changing the future. A million things that should have happened wouldn't now.

And Kurt didn't care. He felt the handle stop with a solid 'click'. And the last image appeared to him. It was Rogue. She was destined to have a mad and torrid love affair with a man named Abair.

Now, it wouldn't happen.

"_Damn_." Kurt said out loud. _I'm sorry_ …

"What?" Jean whipped her head around.

Just then the door of the safe blew open in to the vault. 

The handle vanished from his hand and so did Kurt's memories of the world that was undone.

Jean spun on them as the dust cleared. Her eyes were wild. She felt like a cornered animal. 

Kurt opened his eyes extra wide and let them glaze over just a touch. For the dramatic effect. He had a plan.

Knowing full well that he would never make it, Kurt launched himself at Professor Xavier. The whole time focusing his thoughts on Mezmero's face and thinking the word 'kill' in Mezmero's voice.

Jean looked half shocked to see Kurt launch at Xavier.

Escape! You IDIOT! She thought.

She knew they were in trouble when halfway to Xavier, Kurt fell limp in midair. Scott dove in to catch him.

Jean felt Xavier's attention turn to her. She tried to run and tried to fight, but he was clouding her mind and suppressing her powers. Jean finally managed to take three steps toward the hole in the wall.

The bank was surrounded on the outside but only a select few x-men had entered.

"Nighty-night!" Rogue slipped up on Jean from out of the shadows and caught her in a chokehold from behind. Rogue had wrapped her hand across Jean's face.

Suddenly, Rogue tasted Xavier through her contact with Jean. She didn't understand it, but she could tell it was an oppressive presence.

Rogue tried to pull away and to break the contact. But … Jean bit her; hard and on the arm. And she wouldn't let go.

"Damn it!" Rogue said, although to her it sounded like Xavier's voice. And she punched Jean in the back of the neck, at the base of the skull, throwing her forward.

"Rogue?" Xavier asked concerned.

"Ah'm okay. Ah just got …" She looked down at Jean. She had collapsed and lost consciousness.

"Kurt?" Rogue spun to look over her shoulder.

Scott was kneeling over Kurt's body. Kurt looked comfortably asleep. He was even smiling.

"He's fine Rogue." Scott told her in a confident tone.

She smiled at Xavier. "We got 'em."

Kurt groaned and stirred slightly as Scott was picking Jean up off the ground.

"Kurt?" Rogue asked hesitantly as she watched his eyes flutter open.

"Scott!" Kurt barked the word as his eyes flew open. "Something's wrong! I …" He looked at Rogue and then around the room. "Vat da …"

"It's okay Kurt." She smiled. "You're okay now. But you've been missing for months."

"Months?" Kurt looked at her in disbelief. _Vas it really dat long?_

A great cheer went up and circled the bank when they came out – Kurt on his feet and Jean in Scott's arms. It was the end of a nightmare for most everyone involved. But for a rare and select few the nightmare was just beginning.

Elsewhere …

Wanda cursed softly under her breath.

"What the hell was that all about?" She demanded of The Author's captive form.

She waved a hand and the wooden vines that covered his mouth retreated up his face to cover his eyes. 

"Explain this!" She demanded.

""Explain what?" He asked cautiously

"I've been writing myself a nice little family reunion and instead I find all this drivel about bank vaults and cheering x-dweebs."

"Ahhh." The Author smiled "Chapter Seven"

"What?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, I write the chapters out of sequence – as they occur to me, you know. And then I string them together to make a story – filling in the gaps as I go." He swallowed quickly.

"And that's what's happening? All your bits are being strung together?" She growled loudly. "The what good is this to me?" She reached out with one hand and the building began to shake while the walls began to quiver.

"Look a the screen!" He told her out of self-defense. "LOOK AT THE SCREEN!" 

The screen read : LOOK AT THE SCREEN!

The Author felt the quaking stop and he relaxed slightly.

"Okay." She said as the words appeared. "Why is it working now and not before?" She demanded, picking up the keyboard.

"It's the end of the chapter. So our stories aren't conflicting. You could add something now if you wanted." He felt sweat running down his forehead but couldn't move to wipe it away. 

"I can, can I?" She asked, seating herself at her desk.

"So long as you get it done before the chapter ends. Yeah." He smiled slightly_. All I have to do is last out until the end of the story. When it's over – I'm out of here – just like always. _

He smiled again. _Hey …_ he thought. _I wonder if the X-Men will save me in the last few chapters. They're due here in chapter eighteen._

And after all – Chapter Seven was already over.


	8. Flickering Souls Ch08 A Freak, Like T...

Flickering Souls 

Chapter Eight: A Freak, Like The Rest Of You

"Ah don't rightly know Professor." Rogue sat before Xavier's desk. "Ah just haven't felt normal since we got back from saving Kurt and Jean."

Rogue shook her head.

"Not since I touched her, really." Rogue bit her lip. "I don't know if I told you or not, but when Ah touched her …" She looked Xavier in the eye. "Ah felt you Professor. In her head. And not her. I never felt anything like that before."

The Professor nodded slowly. "That's probably because I was so heavily invested in suppressing her powers." He grimaced slightly. "It may also explain a few … other .. things."

The Professor leaned forward. "What I'm about to say Rogue, it isn't to go beyond this room."

"Ah understand." She nodded.

"Jean is not well." He began. "I've kept her in isolation since she's regained consciousness for several reasons. Her powers have vanished, Rogue. She believes that you have … inherited them."

"She thinks Ah stole her powers." Rogue said softly, more to herself than to Xavier. "But Professor, Ah wouldn't …"

The Professor smiled kindly. "Of course you wouldn't Rogue." He sighed. "But Jean isn't being rational. Although … she may be at least partially correct."

"What?" Rogue asked him, shocked.

"And if that's true, it's as much my fault as anyone's." He sighed again. "I was suppressing her powers Rogue. A process that involves isolating the ability from the personality."

Rogue's eyes opened wide. "That's why ah tasted you in her head."

"Yes Rogue." He nodded. "I was pushing her powers away from her personality …"

"And Ah was pulling them … out?" She looked confused. "So does this mean I'm telekinetic?" She asked. "Because Ah sure haven't seen any sign of it." She shook her head.

"Nor have I." Xavier agreed. "And I've been watching you during your training sessions. That's where I expected it would begin to surface, during moments of stress."

"Is that why the danger room's had it in for me this week?"

The Professor smiled apologetically and shrugged.

"So what's going to happen to Jean now?" Rogue asked quietly.

"She's going home." Xavier breathed just as softly. "Her parents are quite insistent."

Rogue sat back in her chair and thought for a moment.

"Does Scott know?" She asked hesitantly.

Xavier looked her in the eye. "No." He said softly. "Not yet. I thought … since the two of you were so close that …"

Rogue smiled sweetly. "Ah'll be there for him Professor." Her eyes glazed over with tears. _Poor Scott. This is so unfair…_

"Thanks." Her voice began to fail her. "For the _heads-up_."

Xavier smiled at her from across the desk. "Anytime, Rogue." And Rogue knew it was true. Xavier was in this life for the long haul. 

Upstairs, Jean was packing. She had filled her suitcases and taken everything of value that she could lay her hands on.

Scott appeared in her doorway behind her.

"Jean?" He asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

She pulled the zipper on her suitcase and hefted it off her bed. She shoved it in to Scott's arms.

"Packing." She said noncommittally. She turned back and grabbed her duffel bag and smaller suitcase. She pushed past Scott in to the hall and headed for the stairs.

"Are you going home to see your family? I know they were worried while you were missing." Scott prompted, following her as she walked.

"Something like that." She said, barely glancing over her shoulder.

Kitty was standing at the bottom of the stairs talking to someone just outside the front door.

"Jean?" Kitty looked up the stairs. "Your cab is here."

Jean didn't respond. She just kept trucking toward the door. 

"Jean." Scott began. "I know this hasn't been easy …"

Jean whipped around to face him at the bottom of the stairs. "You know _nothing_!" She informed him.

"Jean, what's wrong with you?" He asked, searching her eyes for the woman he loved.

"Wrong? With _me_?" She smiled. "That's a laugh."

The argument was attracting attention from around the mansion. One by one, mutants were turning their eyes toward the front door.

"I'm NORMAL now. I can have a REAL life. There is nothing WRONG with me! BECAUSE I'M NOT A _FREAK_ ANYMORE! _LIKE THE REST OF YOU_!"

Her words cut Scott deep and through the heart. He didn't see the other X-Men pulling back to respectful distances. He didn't see Rogue and Xavier standing together at the top of the stairs; Xavier with his eyes cast down to the floor and Rogue looking like she might dive down the from the second floor and belt Jean across the face.

Jean shoved her bags out the door in to the hands of the waiting driver and she snatched her large bag from Scott.

And with a slam of the door … she was gone.

Rogue was there before Scott could move. 

"Come on Scott." She said softly, taking his arm and leading him away.

He let her lead him away from the door and towards the back of the mansion.

He stopped before they could make their way out the back doors.

"Rogue?" He smiled at her sadly.

"Yeah Scott?" She smiled at him and realized that he was crying behind his visor. 

"Thank you." He whispered softly, patting her on the arm. Not the sleeve, but the arm, on her bare skin.

And nothing happened. Rogue stood in wide-eyed wonder. _What just happened_? She wondered. _Was it just too quick? _

Scott didn't seem to have noticed what he'd done.

"A lot of times Rogue, I don't know what I'd do without you." He swallowed and took a deep breath.

Rogue smiled slightly to herself and turned to look Scott in the face. 

"Anytime." She told him softly, caressing his face with her gloved hand. "Anytime at all."

But in the back of her mind, hope was rising in a place it had never dared to rise before.

__

He touched me! She realized. _He touched me … and nothing happened!_

"Awww." Wanda chided The Author. "That's so sweet."

The Author would have shrugged, were he not wrapped in vines and unable to move.

"I have to pee." He told her bluntly.

"Go right ahead." She told him, tapping words out on the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"I'm having Gambit kill my father." She smiled as she spoke.

"Yeah. About that …" He smiled half to himself. "That wont work."

Wanda hit the enter key and the words vanished off the screen. She could tell he was right, it had not worked.

"Why not?" She fumed, turning on him. "What's wrong now?"

"Well, for starters, I have to pee." He told her. "Secondly, Magneto turns up in my story, close to the end. And you can't kill him in Chapter Eight if he's scheduled to make an appearance in Chapter Seventeen."

Wanda pursed her lips. "You knew that was coming, didn't you?" She half smiled. 

"I know that this story isn't the one you would like it to be." He agreed. "And I know that there is an easier way to get everyone what they want."

Wanda considered this for a moment. "How?" She asked finally.

"Let me go to the bathroom and we'll discuss it." He told her.

"Tell me first." She insisted. 

"I could give you your own story." He told her. "Give you every opportunity to make good on your intentions without interruption."

Slowly the vines began to recede and release him.

"You would do that?" She asked slowly.

"As though I had a choice?" he asked quietly "Outside of soiling myself and pissing you off that is."

Wanda smiled slowly and cautiously. "Go to the bathroom." She told him as the vines turned him loose. "And then we'll talk."


	9. Flickering Souls Ch09 Gypsy In The Ca...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Nine: Gypsy In The Castle

"Kurt." The Professor smiled as he wheeled up from behind Kurt. "It's good to see you out of your room."

The back patio was quiet and empty aside from the two of them.

Kurt smiled a grim smile. "It's Rogue. I just had to see it to believe it." He smiled and turned back to watch Logan's martial arts training class on the back lawn below. "It almost makes me forget …" He seemed very far away all of the sudden.

Xavier returned his grim smile. "Kurt. This guilt of yours isn't healthy."

"A sin is a sin Professor."

"Indeed." Xavier agreed, rather than being drawn in to a moral debate. "But penance and forgiveness exist Kurt."

Kurt shot him a sideways glance. He didn't really feel bad for what he had done. He didn't really think about it at all. He spent most of his time relaxing in his bed and lounging with his remote control.

"Seek." Xavier told him. "And you shall find." 

Kurt turned his attention back to the lawn below. 

"All right!" Logan called out loud. "Everybody line up! Rogue! You're up!"

Rogue ran to the front of the line.

"Positions people!" Logan called. "Everyone – stand ready! Anyone who takes down the Rogue gets excused from tomorrow's session!"

Bobby grinned and elbowed Jamie. He seemed to think he had a shot at that exemption. 

"Rogue! You're to use your powers only on my command!" Logan reminded her.

"Bring 'em on." She told him, adopting a boxing stance and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Go get 'em sis." Kurt whispered to himself.

One by one, as Logan barked out their names, the new mutants and the X-men attacked in hand to hand combat.

And one by one Rogue fought them off using grappling holds and restraint techniques to subdue them.

"Now!" Logan barked as Rogue twisted Berzerker's wrist around and forced him to one knee. And she did it. She zapped him and took his strength.

"Subdued and nullified." Logan said, crossing his arms as he smiled. _You'd make one hell of an infiltration operative._ He thought.

Bobby rushed her in turn and without hesitation she caught his attacking hand and twisted his body against his momentum to flip him. He landed flat on his back with a 'whump'.

"Now!" Logan barked after she had let go of Bobby.

Without missing a beat, Rogue's arm shot down, barely making contact with the fingertips and Bobby spasmed from shock and he passed out.

Jubilee rushed her, intent on planting a foot to Roue's mid-section.

"Ice her!" Logan barked.

And before Jubilee could take another step the air around her had dropped to sub arctic and her skin had begun to ice. 

"FORGET THAT!" Jubilee announced, pulling out of the dense cloud of cold that had enveloped her.

Everyone had to laugh. Logan included.

"Okay." He said at last. "Showers! Now people!" 

Kurt watched as the crowd dispersed.

"Rogue." Logan called her. "Over here."

She approached slowly and only after helping Bobby to his feet.

"Show me." Logan told her, holding out his arm. 

She took hold of him around the wrist.

"Now." He told her. And she hit him with her power.

Kurt watched his knees buckle from across the distance. 

__

Vay to go. He thought. _Anyvone who can take down Logan …_

Kurt didn't bother to finish the thought. 

"Gonna give it a try next time?" Scott was standing off to Kurt's left, just behind him. He was still sweating from the workout.

Kurt turned lazily around. "I vas thinking about it." He said seriously. "I've almost caught up on my schoolwork." 

Scott nodded. "That was a lot of work." Scott sounded impressed.

"The time passes quick in a comfortable chair with a well stocked fridge." Kurt replied whimsically_. And most of the answers are in the back of the book …_

Scott seemed withdrawn and sullen. "Have you remembered anything else about while you were gone?" He asked.

"I know that Jean was in my mind almost constantly when ever Mezmero vasnt." Kurt looked back down at the yard. Logan had Rogue attacking him now while he countered and blocked.

Kurt smiled at Scott. "It makes this place seem downright private by comparison." He turned his attention back to the yard below. "And I wouldn't have missed _this_ for anything." He smiled as Rogue zapped Logan and he buckled again.

"She'll be up all night with all that juice." Scott said softly, referring to all the energy she had just absorbed.

"So vat?" Kurt grinned. "We've got cable."

Scott smiled ear to ear_. At least something good came out of that mess_. He thought. _Kurt's home, anyway …_

Kurt smiled back. "You know," He began "You and I should hit the town one night." He said absently before quickly adding "You know, " He indicated to the lawn below "Vhen our schedules allow it."

Scott nodded appreciatively. "I'd like that." He said quietly. "I'd like that a lot."

Kurt smiled knowingly. _I know_. He thought. _And I imagine no one else would ask you …_

"Rogue told me about how hard you looked for Jean." Kurt said softly. "You deserved better than what you got."

Scott shifted his weight, uncomfortably, from foot to foot. "Yeah, ah …"

Kurt caught his eyes. "That goes without saying." Kurt told him. "I only said it because a lot of the things that go without saying need to be heard at least once."

Scott stood up strait and tall. "I'm glad you're home Kurt. I missed you. And it just wasn't the same around here without you."

Kurt smiled again, more genuine this time, as though he had been touched by Scott's words and the timing of his delivery.

"Of course," Scott continued, turning toward the mansion and strolling away. "That _really_ … _goes without saying."_

Kurt looked around. No one was watching.

He teleported to the roof of the guesthouse where he was sure that no one could see him. He lifted one of the loose shingles and pulled out a half-crumpled pack of cigarettes.

He drew one out of the pack with his lips and lit it. Then he laid back and relaxed.

It was good to be home.

"So why's my father showing up in sapter cheventeen?" Wanda asked, slurring her words.

The Author refilled both their glasses.

"You'll just have to wait and see." He told her. "But I bet you'll like it. You even get mentioned."

"Really?" She looked absently toward the screen and blinked several times. "How come?"

The Author made a disbelieving huff. "Please!" He exclaimed.

She turned to stare at him drunkenly. "No, really, why?" She said in a serious tone. "What's it to any of you in your world where I go or what I do?"

The Author stared groggily back at her. "Serious, you don't see it?" He asked, trying to match her serious attitude.

"No. I don't see it. If I did I wouldn't ask." She told him, shaking her had while trying to focus on her drink.

"You like … **are** rebellious youth. And like … because Maggie's your dad … It's like … _totally_ justified. I mean, who better to rebel against?" He asked before continuing. "And because of the way he treated you … it's completely understandable too, you know?"

"Hunh." She crossed her arms on the desk and leveled a gaze at him.

"You're strong, capable and …" He smiled a sly smile. "_Righteous_." He finished.

"Wait a minute." She sat back and looked at him in disbelief. "Righteous? I'm what your world considers righteous?" She laughed out loud. "What a screwed up place."

The Author chortled in agreement. "Tell me about it."

And he raised his glass to meet hers before they drained them and lay lazily back to watch the next chapter unfold.


	10. Flickering Souls Ch10 Glimpses of the ...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Ten: Glimpses of the Future

Scott jumped in to Kurt's room and closed the door behind him. "_Kurt_! _Listen I_ … Is that incense?"

Kurt stood in a momentary shock. He was sure he had locked the door. "Ja." He said slowly. "It's called Nag Champa. It's made in India."

Kurt began straitening up just a bit. "Is somethinnk wrong?"

"Yes! No .. I …" Scott stood for a flustered moment before casting his eyes down.. "Go look in my room." He said slowly, opening the door.

"Ahh, Ja. But lets not stink up the place, hunh?" Kurt pulled Scott out in to the hall and closed his door behind them.

"I don't know." Scott said. "I kind of liked the incense myself."

Kurt smiled just a bit as the slipped down the hall and he opened Scott's door.

Kurt stepped inside while Scott hesitated in the hall outside.

Wolverine passed at the end of the hall and looked at Scott.

Scott looked back and wolverine sniffed twice in his direction then cocked his head to one side as if questioning something.

Scott smirked at him out of curiosity and then followed Kurt in to his room and closed the door.

"Hunh." Logan shook his head slightly. "Who would have thunk it?"

Inside the room, Kurt and Scott were circling a large metal switch that was coming out of the floor.

"Vhen did you put this in?" Kurt asked curiously.

"I didn't." Scott told him. "It wasn't there this morning when I woke up." He added. "Or when I came up to change clothes after Storm drenched us on the Confidence Course at noon."

Kurt checked his watch. It was one fifteen.

"I've been in my room since then. I didn't hear anyone installing it either." Kurt considered.

"And for once you weren't blaring your Hendrix." Scott volunteered.

Kurt smiled slyly. "Vat can I say? Old American rock was popular in Germany vhen I vas growing up." He shrugged. "But I was listening to the birds outside for most of today." He eyed the heads of the bolts that held the huge and heavy switch in place. He tried to turn one experimentally.

"Ach. You'd need a giant ratchet or an air gun or something." He sat back on his haunches. "Vat do you think it does?" 

"As soon as I saw it …" Scott swallowed. "I thought I recognized it." 

Kurt looked it over carefully. "It is kind of … familiar?" He looked to Scott. "Was there one like it in the bank vhen you found us?"

Scott looked truly confused.

"No. Not that I remember." He said carefully. "But … When I saw it, my knee began to throb."

Kurt looked quizzical. 

"And then I remembered, when I caught Jean leaving, the first night Mezmero grabbed you two … My knee hurt. I woke up, and found myself standing right here. " He stepped up next to the switch. "And I was wondering why my knee hurt."

Kurt considered. "Almost like you walked in to it because it isn't normally there?"

"Thank you!" Scott smiled and gestured with his hands. "I thought I was nuts."

"Don't rule anything out." Kurt smiled at him and gave him a soft nudge with his elbow.

Scott smiled slyly and spoke in a knowing tone. "Touch it." 

Kurt reached out for the handle.

"Just don't shift it." Scott cautioned. "Just touch it and then let go."

Kurt looked at Scott and then back to the switch. He tentatively one of his thick fingers on top of the handle.

And the current flowed through him carrying images directly in to his mind.

He saw himself as he was, happy, thriving at the mansion. It was a scene of his past. It was Rogue waking him from a dream and vaguely he recalled something about wanting to understand his mother.

Then the images shifted. It was himself at the mansion. It was Christmas and he saw himself seated beneath the tree with Scott and Rogue while Xavier looked on. He looked like he did in the past; alive and vibrant.

He longed to be that innocent and clean again.

Kurt pulled his hand back confused. He knew that last scene had never happened.

"Vat vas that?" Kurt asked.

"Did you see us out partying?" Scott asked.

"Vat?" Kurt shook his head. "No. I saw … A Christmas tree. We were sitting near it I think." 

"But you did want to push it forward, right?" Scott asked.

"_Ja_!" Kurt exclaimed. "It was an impulse or a desire."

Scott nodded while Kurt considered.

"If this has happened before …" He considered. "If it's something that happens from time to time …" 

Scott smiled slyly again. "What do you remember now Kurt?"

"Hunh?" Kurt looked back to Scott and realized …"You're right!" He breathed. "I'm forgetting it already!"

"I wrote mine down." Scott smiled smugly.

__

Score one for anal guys everywhere. Kurt thought silently.

"So vhatever it is … it happens and we forget it?" Kurt guessed.

"I think so." Scott conceded.

"So what are you going to do?" Kurt asked.

"I thought I would throw the switch." Scott told him. "I sure want to when I'm touching the handle. I just thought someone else should know what was going on. You know, just in case."

Kurt nodded slowly. 

"And I don't know for sure that Logan or the Professor would let me …" He smiled slyly and looked at the crumpled paper in his hand.

The paper read; I see myself talking to a man with glasses, then laughing with Kurt in a bar and finally … kissing Rogue.

Scott blushed slightly.

"So shift it already." Kurt smiled. "I can't wait to see what happens."

And Scott took hold of the handle and slowly shifted it forward. The room began to spin around them, faster and faster until it became a blur, and then a whirlwind. They understood that months were flying by and that reality was reordering itself. Kurt flew off in to the whirlwind and vanished.

The whirlwind turned black and Scott stood alone in the darkness with the handle. He felt it click and then vanish from his hand.

Dim lights appeared around him. They illuminated a crowded room of people. Some were drinking. Many were laughing.

Scott crossed the bar with the pitcher in one hand and two empty glasses in the other. He eased around the table and sat next to Kurt.

"How did I let you talk me in to this?" Scott asked him. 

"It took two seconds to convince you to go for this Summers." Kurt smiled and took an empty glass from Scott. "Fill me up." He grinned.

Scott smiled, shook his head and poured the beer. _What the hell?_ Scott thought _It is Christmas vacation._

Wanda blinked three times, quickly. There was a large and open door racing very quickly at her. Strangely enough, it was attached to a wall.

"What?" She wondered out loud. _We had a few drinks … I signed a … Did I sign a contract?_

She shook her head to try and clear it. _I did. I signed a contract that said … something …_

A dull roar had been filling her ears but she had really just noticed it. It seemed to accompany the rushing of the open door towards her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw The Author smile down at her.

"Hands and feet inside the car at all times." He told her playfully.

She pulled in, reflexively as he spoke. _How can he look so sober?_ She wondered.

The Author stopped his run towards the door and let go of the chair.

Wanda, seated in the chair, was rolling across the hardwood floor towards the door with an almost perfect precision.

As the chair reached the door, the large plastic casters on the bottom of the chair caught on the threshold of the door and catapulted her out in to the snow beyond.

Wanda looked up. She was confused, befuddled and cold.

"What?" She demanded, looking back toward the door. 

Although the door appeared now, not to be in a wall, but free standing in the middle of Bayville.

The Author smiled through the doorway.

"It's all here Wanda." He patted the contract in his pocket. "Signed, sealed, and delivered."

He looked far too smug for her taste.

"You wanted your own story. A chance to kill your father." He smiled. "And you didn't want to wait." 

She remembered that much.

"So you threw me in the snow." She said, hauling herself up to her feet.

"No." He smiled. "I sent you one year in to the future."

She looked around. There had been changes. The donut shop was closed and the windows were boarded up. The corner store even had gas pumps now. Things were different.

"A year?" She looked around carefully_. He said things would have progressed normally. I'm the one out of time here …_

"Yep. And you've got three days to kill him, or else you get sent right back here and the whole event never happened." He smiled at her knowingly. "But, if you do kill him, you live on from this point and it can't be undone. Just as we discussed."

She could almost recall hammering out a contract. _Almost …_

"And you'll help me, right?" She shivered once in the cold. "You're supposed to support me, no matter what, right?"

The Author pulled out the contract. "It reads" He began "The Author shall support Wanda Maximoff in all her endeavors over the three day period of the contract." He smiled at her. "And I will." He assured her.

She distrusted him. He looked sneaky. _Like he's up to something …_

"Good luck." He said tauntingly and he slammed the door between them and it vanished from her sight.

The Author turned around, smiling to himself. After all, he wasn't sure that Synthahol, borrowed from a Star Trek universe would work in an X-world. But work it did. _Drink all you want and sober up on demand._ He laughed out loud. _That's good stuff._

__

Try and take over my story, hah! 

He smiled to himself while remaining secretly relieved that he still had his skin.

(A note from THE AUTHOR: Look for the ongoing saga of Wanda in her own story as she comes to realize what a difference a year can make when she goes after Magneto and discovers she's have to go through herself to get there. It's Angry Wanda vs Brainwashed Wanda in the battle for Magneto's life – Coming Soon - And for Christmas!)


	11. Flickering Souls Ch11 Treachery

Flickering Souls 

Chapter Eleven: Treachery

Rogue closed the door behind her. 

__

Ah can't believe they took off! She thought to herself. _Xavier gets called away to New York, Hank's gone until tomorrow night, and Scott and Kurt just ditch me!_

She shook it off. She understood that it _probably_ wasn't anything personal.

__

And Xavier will be back before Christmas. So I have one night alone in the mansion. Some times I'd have killed for this much privacy. She reminded herself.

The mansion was cold and quiet despite the festive decorations.

Rogue couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. 

She found herself a comfortable chair and set herself down to channel surf for Christmas specials on the tube.

Little did she know that an evil had begun to permeate the world around her.

"You're sure?" Mystique demanded of Mezmero. "You're sure that Rogue is the key to opening the last door?"

"Quite." Mezmero's tattooed face smiled carefully. "And this simple task shall assure your survival … _Both_ of you." He hissed.

Mystique swallowed hard. She didn't rust Mezmero any more than she trusted Magneto. But if Apocalypse rises … she considered. 

"All right." She said. "As soon as you can establish your control over her, do it. Let's get this over with." She told him.

"Oh, I quite agree." He smiled again, an oily smile – like that of a lizard. "The sooner, the better."

"Once she is asleep _she will be mine_." He said, staring toward the mansion.

Mystique cringed slightly._ So help me … If you hurt her …_

Many hours later, Rogue sighed. She was tired and she wanted to sleep. The t.v. had long been turned off and the mansion long since locked. _Dang it! Where are they? I hope they're okay …_

She felt like she was out of the loop and it made her feel weak. Instead she tried to focus on the good things in her life.

__

Ah didn't mean to absorb Jean's powers for keeps … she reminded herself.

__

But .. all the same …

She thought about Xavier's explanation.

"You've internalized her telekinetics." He had explained. "I've seen this in one other telekinetic. He was deathly ill with a fatal virus. Science could find no cure. And although he never managed to produce a single telekinetic episode – that energy was constantly in use. It held the virus at bay and allowed him a normal life. "

__

A normal life … She smiled. It was now possible.

That and more … she reminded herself. Because not only had her newfound telekinetics brought her control over her powers but also the ability to shunt out the powers she absorbed. No longer did she suffer from the abuse of mind to mind contact – so long as she allows the powers to discharge shortly after absorbing them.

She smiled. Discharging other peoples powers made it look like she had control over them too. She didn't. Not like the original owners. 

Oh sure, when she absorbed Bobby she could make it cold. But she couldn't form his ice bridges or manipulate the ice she did form. That took practice. She just made it cold.

Or when she absorbed Jubilee she could make fireworks, but their shape and size seemed to be completely based on her emotions at the moment. 

Rogue sighed deeply and her mind turned, sheepishly, towards those first days she had spent walking the halls of Bayville high when she was sure of her control over her powers.

She felt like a kid in a candy store as she would idly touch an arm or brush skin to skin as she walked the halls. Her wardrobe had expanded to include tee shirts, tank tops and even one pair of rarely used cut-off shorts.

__

But … still … Her mind wandered. She felt like she was missing something, or more specifically someone … and she couldn't place exactly who.

__

But Ah will know him when I see him. She told herself. _Ah know it._

And briefly, her mind turned to Scott. Once upon a time she would have beaten Jean senseless for a chance with Scott. But she had grown since then. And while there was no doubt that she cared deeply for Scott and that they had grown very close over the last year … It just didn't seem like he was the man she was waiting for.

__

Not that he couldn't be. She told herself with a gentle yet guilty grin. 

"Blast!" Mezmero cast his eyes to the mansion. 

"What is it?" Mystique demanded.

"She's strong and wily. I'm having trouble even detecting her let alone latching on." He shook his head. "It's as though that other one, Jean, was here and trying to fight me for control!"

Mystique sat back. "She absorbed Jeans powers earlier this year." Mystique informed him. "Is she aware of you?" She asked, concerned.

"I don't think so." He grimaced. _Unless she's trying to convince me that the guy in the glasses looks good in tight shorts …_

Just then a set of headlights appeared in the distance. "Quickly, Mezmero, back to the car." She whispered.

But the headlights were coming fast and furious down the road. There was no time to move.

"Duck!" Mystique commanded him as the car approached.

They both hunkered low and tried not to be seen. 

Just then, Kurt flew by driving Scott's car and kicking up a minor dust storm behind them. The radio was blaring The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil.

"Punk kids." Mezmero tried to dust himself off after he stood up.

"Watch yourself." She told him. "He's mine too."

Mezmero looked at her, and then at Kurt, driving ridiculously fast down the dirt covered access road and singing off key with the blaring music.

"That figures." He told her, his arms extended to his sides and his robe full of dust.. "It just … _figures_."


	12. Flickering Souls Ch12 Kurt and Scott C...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Twelve: Kurt and Scott Come Home Drunk

Rogue pushed on towards the muffled sounds in the darkness. She had originally tried to ignore the noises. But for the last half an hour it sounded like someone was trying to swim up the front stairs.

She walked up right on Kurt who was beginning to climb the stairs. He jumped when he saw her and she flipped on the light.

"What the hell's going on out here Kurt? I've been listening to you for a half an hour now." 

"Sorry. I'm just really buzzed." Kurt smiled smugly.

"Excuse me?" Rogue looked him in the face. "_You're what_?"

"Stoned, smashed, hammered, twizzeled, twisted …" He was counting them off but running out of fingers.

Scott raised his head off the floor and pointed at Kurt. "… And **_in trouble_** ..." He added before collapsing, grinning, on to his face.

Rogue looked down at Scott. For a moment, she was angry and disgusted. But after a second or so of watching him stir in his stupor she realized how odd a moment it was and that it had to have been equally as odd an evening to have led them here.

And her heart melted just a bit.

"Kurt, just … help me get him up to bed." She said at last, imploringly.

Kurt smiled again. "It's _not_ a good idea." He shook his head slowly. "Vhen he's _up_, he's _ill_." Kurt informed her. "He laid down the whole ride home."

"_You drove_? You? _In your condition_?" She looked at him in disbelief. "_Have you lost your_ **_blue, furry, little mind?"_**

Kurt looked offended. "I'll have you know I teleported Scott and then the car to the mouth of the access road behind the mansion. I only drove it a few miles. I vas too tired to 'port again." He shrugged slightly. "Or … maybe I vas too drunk." 

Rogue relaxed slightly. The access road formed an "L" that bordered the mansion property and no one but the gardener ever really used it.

"This was still monumentously stupid Kurt. What the hell is wrong with you …" She looked to Scott "Two?" She finished.

"I've just been … _Out of sorts_." Kurt shrugged apologetically and rubbed the back of his neck distractedly.

Scott lifted his head. "I'm _mad_ at Abair." He volunteered absently.

"Who?" Rogue asked.

"Oh sure." Scott accused her. "_You_ say that _now_."

Rogue cast a glance to Kurt who shrugged in return.

"_Lucky bastard_." Scott commented to no one in particular.

"What …" She shook her head and finally smiled slightly. "You're really are trashed, aren't you?" She asked him finally.

"Did I **_sing_** some thing?" Scott seemed hazy and tried to roll over to see Kurt.. "Kurt … Did I …?"

"_Ja_." Kurt grinned wide. "It vas a karaoke bar." Kurt assured him in a friendly tone.

Rogue sighed. "I'm just gonna wait and yell at you in the morning." She decided out loud.

"I wish you would." Scott volunteered.

"Amen to zat one brother." Kurt nodded, shoving his hands in to his pockets and rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes and back again.

"But without yelling." Scott added. "Just with blankets."

Kurt snickered and Rogue sighed, casting her eyes to the heavens. "Would you like a blanket Scott?" She asked.

"Yes please." He chirped quickly.

Kurt looked her in the eye and shrugged. "Cold floor." He explained stepping past her toward the nearest linen closet. He pulled out two heavy wool blankets and began to saunter slowly back down the hall.

Rogue shook her head. "How much did you drink tonight?" She asked him.

"Myself? Half a pitcher of beer total." Kurt told her. "I didn't really like it." He handed her a blanket and spread the other over Scott who curled up appreciatively underneath. 

"But you have the makings of a serious drinking problem." He said cheerfully to Scott.

Kurt snatched the other blanket from Rogue and slipped it under Scott's head.

"Thank you." Scott told him.

"You're welcome." Kurt nodded and smiled at him.

Scott shook his head at though the drinking problem comment had just registered.. "And I do not." He announced. "I just like limes."

Rogue tisked her tongue and stalked away, dropping in to one of the leather chairs in the next room.

Kurt sighed inwardly and then followed her in.

"Listen." He began. "I vant to apologize." 

She turned and looked at him.

"We should have invited you to come." He announced.

She shook her head. "Kurt _…" Way to miss the point … And … thanks, Ah think …_

He interrupted her. "Please, let me finish." He smiled. "But it vas kind of a stupid macho guy thing and it was best to just get it out of our systems and move on." He dropped in to the chair opposite her. 

"I thought since we had the next few days alone, now would be da time. And I know it vas stupid, but we needed this one." Kurt sighed.

"Why Kurt?' She shook her head. "What's been on your mind lately? I can tell something's wrong."

Kurt let his eyes drop. "You remember when Jean recruited me to steal for her?" He volunteered.

"Yeah?" She replied hesitantly.

"You remember how guilty I felt afterward?" He seemed pained by the memory.

"Yeah." Rogue whispered.

"Well, it did something to me." He shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it. Not really."

He cast her a glance. He could tell that she wasn't going to let this go.

"It's like I burned out my ability to feel things." He admitted. "I know dat I should feel … _something_." He shrugged. "I would give anything just to feel guilty over what I did again." He shook his head. "It's almost like I'm too tired to feel things." He looked her in the face. "But I'm not."

Kurt continued. "I mean …It's Christmas and I'm not going to be with my adopted parents." He sighed. "And I don't _feel_ any way about it."

"Have you told this to the Professor?" She asked, concerned.

"No." Kurt admitted.

"Will you tell him when he gets back?" She pulled her hands up to her chest in worry. "Please?"

Kurt swallowed and nodded, then looked away. "_Ja_." He sighed. "And I'm sorry I made you worry." He added quickly.

Rogue pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "All a part of our friendly curbside service." She smiled softly.

A moment later she asked. "Do you know what's wrong with Scott?" She ventured.

"I could make a list after tonight." Kurt assured her. "But he's been complaining about this guy Abair on and off. I think Scott's hot after this guy's girlfriend."

"What?" Rogue was shocked.

"Or his ex-girlfriend. He wasn't very clear."

"Oh." Rogue looked out towards the hall where Scott was softly snoring. "He's been lonely without Jean, hasn't he?"

"I think so." Kurt agreed. "It was funny. He didn't seem to vant me to know who the girl was." Kurt smiled. "Blue might be her favorite color or something." He shrugged.

Rogue chuckled lightly and then something occurred to her.

"Kurt?" She ventured, intrigued and amused. "_What did Scott sing_?"

Kurt smiled proudly. "We decided to pick songs for each other to sing." He looked sneaky too. 

"So _what did he sing_?" She asked again.

"It vas called _… Stand by Your Man_." Kurt grinned wide.

"Kurt!" Rogue was shocked. "How could you?"

He pointed one finger at an imaginary karaoke machine. "G –4" He pushed two imaginary buttons. "He vas pretty good too." Kurt grinned.

"Really?" Rogue asked.

"**_No_**." Kurt informed her plainly. "I think he's **tone deaf**."

"And I figured that YMCA would get our _asses kicked_." He grinned

Rogue laughed out loud. "Well, I hope he got you back. What did he make you sing?"

Kurt grinned wickedly. "I guess I still owe him a song." He laughed out loud.

"Kurt!!" She threw a throw pillow at him and he caught it, then slipped it behind his head.

"I know." He smiled wide, shrugged and sighed. "I _should_ feel like _an ass_." 

But, quite obviously, he didn't.

He seemed to sober up suddenly. "We've come a long way together, haven't we?" He asked quietly.

Rogue could feel the weight on his mind. "Ah guess we have." She smiled softly.

"Long strange trip." Kurt smiled, looking relaxed and drunken again.

He paused for a moment. "You know, if you ever move on … Get married or move out on your own or anything …"

Rogue looked at him sideways. This speech sounded practiced.

"I just vanted to make sure that you know; You can alvays count on me. For anything I can do. Like family."

Rogue relaxed in to the idea.

"No matter vhat the future holds." He said it softly, but pronounced it clearly as though he was sober. "No matter vhat."

"The same goes for me Kurt." She said softly. "You know that, right?"

"Even if I get married or move out on my own?" He had closed his eyes and lay his head back against the chair. "Even if I marry a snobby little prissy wife who cant stand you?" He laughed to himself as he spoke.

"I'll enjoy teasin' her is all." Rogue smiled back. "And harassing her every Christmas." She promised.

Rogue sat back and bit her lip. Something did not feel right but she dismissed it as residual concern over Kurt's drinking and driving.

Kurt leaned back and smiled, although secretly he had his doubts as to whether or not he really belonged here at the mansion.


	13. Flickering Souls Ch13 In The Name Of L...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Thirteen: In The Name Of Love

Soon enough Kurt had settled in to his own bed and passed, rather pleasantly, out.

Scott lay, in and out of sleep, on the front stoop. 

Rogue was tired, and relieved despite her concern. And she drifted off to sleep.

"Now." Mezmero breathed the word and Mystique started the car. She drove casually around toward the front of the mansion.

Rogue rose slowly from her bed and turned her attention down the hall. She slipped in to Kurt's room and laid her hand on his bare neck as though searching for a pulse. She stroked his soft velvet-like fur and smiled absently before sending his body in to a nervous spasm by absorbing his ability to teleport.

She turned and walked quietly out of the room and began her decent down the stairs.

Scott stirred slightly at the foot of the stairs. He rubbed his eyes and rolled over to see her as she approached.

She stopped and crouched down as though she might sit on the bottom step. And then …

Her face floated out of the darkness at him and he was horrified by what he saw. Her eyes were vacant and glazed in a way that haunted his nightmares.

"Mez…" he began but she reached for him.

He rolled recklessly away from her in terror.

"Rogue." He called to her. "ROGUE!"

But she just turned her attention towards him again with a determined look on her face.

"Not again." He breathed quietly as she dove at him.

He snatched her wrists and dove towards the wall. He let go immediately and sank his knee in her stomach. 

"I'm sorry." He said as she doubled over and gasped.

She reached out and snagged a handful of his shirt and pulled him towards her.

"No! Rogue!" He shouted in to her face.

When she didn't respond he reached out and grabbed her by the hair. He pulled her past him and in to the wall.

"You're not LEAVING!" He roared at her. _Not like this … Not again …_

He spun on her and saw her rising to her feet.

"Sc … Scott?" She asked hesitantly as she turned.

Scott was pulling on his visor. "It's Mezmero." He said plainly. He's controlling you." Scott explained quickly.

"I …" She could feel the pull of his mind and she put her hands to either side of her head. "Scott …" She called. "Ah cant!!!"

"I know." He whispered, raising his hand to his visor.

__

Gently, gently! He told himself.

And he fired, catching her right between the eyes.

"Uhg!" Rogue slammed back hard against the wall and slid down to rest at the bottom of the stairs.

Scott heard a car approach the front gate. He threw open the door and glared down the driveway.

"Kurt!" He called up the stairs. When no one answered he turned his attention back to the car.

He narrowed his eyes and focused his beam and fired again.

He caught the car in the front side and the engine exploded.

Scott triggered the gate and tore out the door at a full run. He was still drunk and he could tell but his anger and indignation had taken over completely.

In a moment he was on them. Mystique lunged at him while Mezmero turned and ran.

Scott caught Mystique's attack and slammed her back against the burning car. He impaled her on a twisted and jagged metal spire and turned his attention down the road. Mezmero was fleeing in to the woods.

"If I ever see you again – _I'll kill you_." Scott told her and he tore off towards the woods.

The branches beat him soundly as he tore towards the man before him. He couldn't see Mezmero but he could see his movement through the trees.

"First Jean!" Scott roared, closing the distance between them.

"Now Rogue!" He shook with anger and rage.

"How many others?" He demanded. "And for WHAT?" 

Scott pounced and caught Mezmero by the robes. The two of them collapsed on to the ground.

"FOR WHAT?" He demanded, spinning Mezmero to face him.

Mezmero was scared. He reached out and tried to seize Scott's mind but he couldn't. Scott was too emotional. He wasn't thinking at all.

Mezmero reached for Rogue's mind and he seized it. He began to force her to teleport to their location – to save him.

"Look in to my eyes." Scott growled at him, low and guttural.

Mezmero trembled and struggled, but Scott had him. 

"And tell me why you have a right to hurt everyone I love?"

Rogue stood up and she felt the ability to teleport coming to the surface. Love … she thought after hearing Scott through Mezmero's contact. He …

"No more." Scott said softly, taking off his glasses. "And never again." He breathed as he opened his eyes while staring right in to Mezmero's face.

Rogue gasped and she fell to her knees. She wasn't sure what had happened. But she knew why it happened.

__

He … loves … **no**. She shook her head slightly. It hurt_. **He's in love** … **with me!**_

Scott stumbled back towards the mansion. He dragged Mezmero's body with him. When he was close enough he threw the body in to the flaming car across the front seat.

Mystique was gone. Only a bloody spire remained to indicate that she had ever been there at all.

Fire trucks and police sirens were wailing in the distance.

Scott pressed his palm to the gate control and slipped through before it could close.

He numbly stalked up the driveway, trembling under the weight of what he'd done.

And then … She opened the door.

Scott raised his eyes to meet hers and all his doubts melted away. He would do it again _… in a heartbeat_.

"Scott?" She asked nervously. "Mezmero …"

"Back in his car." Scott said softly as the gas tank exploded and the car blew itself over and on to it's side.

"Mystique was here too." He told her. "She escaped."

Rogue nodded. Scott looked like hell.

"Scott." She said, catching his attention. "When he was in my head … did you say … that you love …" She couldn't finish.

Scott smiled slightly and stepped up to face her. "Yes Rogue." He said softly. "I love you. I can't even tell you how long." He touched her face with his blood and soot stained hand and shook his head. "It seems like … all eternity." He breathed.

And Rogue rose up on to her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in a way she had never kissed anyone before.

Scott, in turn, took hold of her – determined to never let her go.


	14. Flickering Souls Ch14 Signs and Misgiv...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Fourteen: Signs and Misgivings

__

Damn it! Kurt chided himself mentally. _Just minutes after pledging to be there for Rogue – for the rest of her life no less – and vat do I do?_

__

I **sleep** through her kidnapping attempt.

Kurt let his eyes fall to the small stones that littered the walkway towards the back of the guesthouse.

__

Vat a perfect portrait of a guy in control.

He kicked the stones down the path and followed them as he walked.

The trees were naked and bare in the bright light of day and the bitter cold.

__

And Mezmero … **gone**. Kurt shook his head. He had always assumed that, one day, he would find his answers. _Vhat exactly did he do to us?_

He considered. _Actually, da qvestion is … What did **she** do to **me**?_

He paused where the road forked before him and he debated on which way to go. He really didn't care.

__

Arg! He thought. _Why bother at all?_ He shook his head. He used to love the left path. It rolled over the grounds and let you see all of the estate in one circle. 

The right path led to the lake and the equipment shed. He had whiled away many long evenings watching the waves in the sunlight. He had told his parents in a letter how much he had treasured it.

He looked at the forked path.

__

Both. He figured. _Or neither_. He smiled … But it slowly faded from his face.

__

I used to love them and now … I'm … just … **indifferent**.

He had a brief inner laugh. _Indifference – the opposite of love!_

__

Maybe that's how Mystique has survived so long … He wondered. _Is she just indifferent to so much …_

But another thought caught his attention.

__

Hate … and love … Indifference is the opposite of … **BOTH**!

He cast his eyes around. No one was obviously about so Kurt sat strait down on the path.

__

So love … and hate … they're like two sides … of the same thing.

__

Hate … He thought to himself. _Hate is … Love, gone bad_.

He had never seen it that way before.

__

But … He felt a powerful swell of emotion forming deep within him and he was afraid it might break him.

__

Rogue. He told himself, trying to cling to the memory of her for support. But it failed. He felt that he had failed her. That he should have been able to stop her, save her, or …

__

Ja. Anytime she needs someone to take a nap for her - I'm the guy for the job.

He glanced down at himself and then stood up, dusted off and with a sour expression, started off down the left path.

__

I can't believe Mystique! Selling Rogue out like that! And … He fished for the thought that voiced his emotional outrage. _She's … She's even the favorite_! He smiled to himself. He knew he could never share a joke like that with Rogue. She'd hit him and probably mean it.

__

Mom alvays deed like you best! He could hear himself saying and … 

__

No … No … Hmmm … No. 

Every way he imagined it … He got hit.

He shook off the smile and felt the sulk return as soon as Mystique's face came to his mind.

__

Someone really ought to watch that woman twenty four hours a day.

He sighed audibly to the cold and barren landscape.

__

Remember vhen …?

His face hardened at his thoughts. He didn't want to remember when.

'When' was a time when a note slid under his door and offered him answers. A time when he trusted her enough to go alone and ask for them. 

He had been horrified when she pulled back her hood. But something inside him made him stay – and he knew exactly what that something was.

__

I thought … He bit back on the tears he felt coming. _I thought she would **love** me._

He turned his eyes to the bleak and dreary heavens. _Vhy didn't she love me_? He asked. _Why not just enough to try … to be a better person?_

__

Love **can** remake people. Souls can be … He wanted to say 'saved'.

__

But if love can remake a person …Then so can hate. He admitted begrudgingly.

And he saw the truth in it. _She was remade a long time ago._

He swallowed hard and bit down on the tears that would not come.

__

I need answers! He told himself harshly as he stared down distractedly.

Suddenly, his head swung up and he spoke to the sky. "Are you listening?" He asked.

__

Were you ever?

Kurt breathed a worried sigh.

"I need a sign." He said softly as he stared in to the clouds. "Because I **am** being tested." He nodded his understanding to the heavens. "And I vant only to be true to my heart." He found himself stroking his chest with his thick fingers.

"You're going to have to show me." He said. "Because I _feel_ … _that I am **lost**_."

__

I'm certainly not **helping** anyone by being here …He reasoned, still hurting over Rogue's attack and his lack of response_. Even when I vant to …_ He looked up again. _Vith all my heart._

He bit his lip. _And Xavier's bound to see through me sooner or later. _He told himself truthfully. _A guilty mask wont fool him forever. Jean maybe, but not Xavier. He probably already suspects …_

Kurt shook it off. He hated paranoid thoughts.

__

And they seem to have each other now … He thought of Rogue and Scott and of seeing them sleeping together on the couch this morning, wrapped safely in each others arms after a night of police questions and abject denials.

Slowly and steadily Kurt traced the property on foot. He walked on ice, through snow and over the small wooden bridges that spanned the wetland area's around the lake.

Soon he found himself approaching the mansion. His cheeks were numb from the weather and his nose hurt from the cold. 

The property had been still and quiet. Not a single living thing crossed his path and not a single noise from the outside world managed to reach him. He felt alone in a sterile and abandoned world.

__

Ach! He thought to God. _Can you put my sign on channel four or somethink? _

He looked up imploringly. _I'm **freezing** out here_.

And with that, he swallowed his embarrassment and headed inside.


	15. Flickering Souls Ch15 Kurts Vision

Flickering Souls

Chapter Fifteen: Kurt's Vision

Kurt slipped in to the house and pulled off his winter clothes. The house was so warm that it made him sleepy.

He slipped up to the big downstairs TV and snatched the remote on his way to the couch. He tossed himself down lengthwise and keyed the power button.

When the TV burst on, it was on channel four.

"Professor Charles Xavier will be lighting the tree in Rockefeller Center this year – after word leaked out that it was he who donated the tree and funds for it's maintenance this year." The chipper woman smiled as she spoke.

The image jumped to show Xavier, seated in his chair, at a press conference.

"Some of my earliest memories were of seeing the tree lit in my youth." Xavier explained. "And I simply could not see something as simple as a budget problem halting a tradition that – to so many – is THE symbol of the holiday spirit." He smiled and the volume dropped away.

"Professor Xavier has traveled to New York earlier this week but plans to be home with family before the Holiday. Back to you Pat." 

Kurt sat alone in front of the television.

"What a great thing to do. Thanks Gwen. And in related events, The Mutant Magneto was sighted near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Government officials are on the scene but his whereabouts remain unknown. Some officers are skeptical and suspect a hoax."

Kurt hit the mute button.

__

Right. He thought to himself. _Xavier's in the city for the dedication and Magneto just happens to turn up._

And something occurred to Kurt.

__

The Brooklyn Bridge …

Kurt slipped out of the room and down the passage in to the lower levels of the mansion. 

He knew than Hank was upstairs in the kitchen, having returned as early as he could after hearing of Mezmero's attack and it's fatal results. 

So Kurt knew he was alone with his task.

He accessed the computer and made his request. 

A moment later a map appeared marking all the previous sightings of Magneto in New York.

Sure enough, the Brooklyn Bridge would make an almost complete circle out of the sighting area.

__

Now … Kurt thought _The dedication will happen here and the Professor's hotel …_

And Kurt could see it perfectly – in order for the Professor to get to the dedication – he would need to pass right through the area where Magneto had been seen.

__

It's a set up. He realized.

And he knew what he had to do.

He walked down to the end of the hall and teleported through door in to the experimental weapons locker.

He passed over several pieces of advanced technology – and then – he found what he was looking for.

He teleported again, his prize in hand, and made for the garage.

He was tired of the cat and mouse game. What right did Magneto have to plot and plan against Xavier when Xavier's dream was the more palatable of the two?

Kurt looked at his new toy – the weapon of his choosing. 

And he smiled, coldly. He had something important to do.

__

New York, ready or not, here I come.

And then another thought occurred to him. 

I have plenty of time … He reasoned. _I could stop over on the way … After all, old friends are supposed to be good for the soul._ He sneered at his own sarcasm

And then he turned his attention to the garage, or more appropriately, to which vehicle might be cool enough to steal for the trip.

Less than an hour later Kurt was cruising through town in 'motorcycle style' as he called it – and that's when he saw her.

__

Mystique! His eyes opened wide as she slipped around the corner, oblivious to him and his approach. She was disguised as Rogue's friend Misty.

Very quickly he pulled over and abandoned the bike to follow her.

__

Misty … He wondered. _Mystique? Vas there ever a **real** Misty at all?_ He shook away the thought.

__

Vat kind of no-good can you be up to here? And in broad daylight? He set his jaw. "I owe you one. _For Rogue_." He whispered.

He followed Mystique's footprints down along the side of a large brick building.

"Please Irene! You must tell me what you see!" Mystique begged the seated woman just inside first door he came to. "With Mezmero dead, is Rogue _safe_ from Apocalypse?"

Kurt pulled back from the window and listened intently_. Safe? How does kidnapping her FOR Apocalypse keep her safe? Duh!_

"Great clouds surround us all." Irene told her. "As though everything we do and hope for will be for nothing."

__

Shallow end of the gene pool. Kurt thought, directing that comment at Mystique. He smiled slightly and kept listening.

"What do you see?" Mystique pushed her. 

"I see her in noble arms yet keeping dark company …" She turned her blind eyes toward Kurt's window for a fraction of a second and then turned away as she called him 'dark company'.

"You!" Irene told her. "You are about to swear a final allegiance with one who can master the darkness. When he commands you from the shadows – _Do as he says_. _All of you_! Or you shall never live to see peace with your daughter."

Mystique swallowed. "_Apocalypse_!" She breathed. "I feared he would touch my mind as Mezmero's. I thought …"

"No." Irene breathed quietly. "This will be someone … _closer_ than you could know."

"And what of Magneto?" Mystique asked. "I am due to join him in New York shortly."

Irene smiled wide and serenely. "You need not fear him after this last mission. But _you must go_."

Mystique nodded at her friend. "All right." She said softly as she turned to leave. "And Irene?" She turned back. "Merry Christmas."

Irene turned sadly towards Mystique. "Let us hope so." She said quietly. "Let us hope so … anyway"

Mystique stepped out the door and looked down, Another set of tracks had traced hers in the snow and then doubled back the way she had come. 

She followed them quickly but found only the empty street and the soft, distant noise of a fleeing motorcycle.


	16. Flickering Souls Ch16 Kurt confronts J...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Sixteen: Kurt Confronts Jean

Kurt parked the motorcycle a few blocks away and approached stealthily, on foot.

When he was sure no one was watching, he scaled the wall, quickly, like an acrobat.

Once outside her window, he looked in. She was, like the rest of the neighborhood, asleep.

The window was locked. So he teleported in to the room, right on top of her, pinning her arms down and covering her mouth with one hand. 

She woke up frantic and surprised, and although she struggled, she could not over come his vice-like grip.

"You're going to tell me vat you did to me." He said softly, close to her ear, seeing the recognition flicker in her eyes as she came fully awake. "You have no choice."

"Hmmm hmm hmmm hmmm hmmm?" She demanded.

He moved his hand. "Vat?" He asked.

"What's in it for me?" She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. "I know you understand – _Nothing's free_."

He narrowed his eyes at her and she briefly wondered if she had gone too far. "I know vat you mean." He said softly. "But now, I may _kill you_ before you tell me _what I vant to know_."

She swallowed hesitantly, then smiled, relaxing.

"I know how you can pay me." She laughed softly. "And you'll like it too."

She smiled, and explained. "I've been under lock and key since I got home. I haven't had any fun … _at all_."

And she kissed him, lightly on the lips, as she could barely reach him 

"Are you insane?" He asked her, pushing her down. "Did you make me crazy too?" He demanded softly, exerting more pressure to keep her restrained.

She pursed her lips and pouted. "What about what I want?" She asked.

He closed his hand over her wrist tightly and squeezed until she thought he might break it.

"**_Okay_**." She winced in pain and he lessened his grip. "Mezmero – he saw something in me, something he called 'the dark phoenix potential'. You're the same person – but you're printed backwards – like a photograph negative."

He took a few quick breaths and looked incensed. "Vhy did you do this to me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, edging towards him again. "I'm here in negative too." She whispered.

"And the opposite of that prim and proper Boyscout ..." She wrinkled her nose distastefully, arching her back to press herself close to Kurt.

"Would be my very own … personal … _demon_." She whispered the last word with a husky, throaty tone.

Her hot breath caressed his bare throat.

"You're perfect now." She told him. "Your insides match your outsides." She ran her tongue over her teeth, tracing her upper lip.

"You're beautiful." She breathed. _And even if you don't know it yet …_ She thought to herself. _You're mine._

"And when I turned you, I made sure of one thing – above all others."

Kurt's face betrayed his anger and his outrage, but something else was there too – something he couldn't name – but he knew that she could.

"Vat?" He asked her, reveling in the soft heat of her skin.

She leaned up, stretching to whisper in his ear. "_You want me_," She whispered. "**_More_** than _I want you_."

She had kissed him twice, softly, before the moment took him, and he kissed her back, forcefully.

Several hours later Kurt found himself standing over her sleeping form. He didn't want to leave. But Xavier needed his help. That much was clear.

He made sure he had collected everything he had come with and vanished from the room only to appear in the street below.

He had a long ride ahead of him if he wanted to intercept Magneto before Magneto could ambush Xavier. And the ride promised him plenty of time to consider the truth that Jean had revealed to him; That he hasn't changed but he can never be the same again.

He pulled on his helmet and smiled as he wrapped himself once again around the motorcycle. He enjoyed the element of danger that the motorcycle provided. After all, there was no telling what Wolverine would do to him if he found out he had stolen his ride.

Kurt grinned wickedly as the bike kicked over. He looked back to see Jean. She stood silhouetted in the window, looking down at him.

He could almost feel her trying to rouse her absent powers and draw him back to the room.

He nodded once towards the room, twisted the throttle and rode on by without looking back. 


	17. Flickering Souls Ch17 One More In The ...

Flickering Souls

Sapter Cheventeen: One More In The Name Of Love

Kurt crept along the hallway cautiously. Just a moment after entering the building he knew he had found the right place. It was crawling with thugs. Not just Magneto's men, but the Brotherhood as well.

They were spread out through the bell tower.

Kurt stepped out behind Pietro and he turned to find Kurt, his sword drawn, just two inches away.

Pietro eyed the sword hesitantly.

"Mess with me … _and you mess with my **father**_." Pietro smiled and snapped his fingers off to one side.

The flat black sword blade whistled past him once.

And when he moved – his hand fell off his body and on to the floor.

He looked in disbelief at the cleanly severed stump.

"Given your metabolism." Kurt began. "I'd say you've got about _eight seconds_ – before you _bleed to death."_

Pietro blinked twice in shock.

"Now." Kurt continued. "Back to messing with your father … Just vhere is daddy hiding himself?"

"**I hide from no one**!" Magneto roared as he slowly lowered himself down the shaft of the building.

Kurt looked up and smiled.

Both the Brotherhood and Magneto's gang began to show themselves. They were scattered around the bell tower, on all it's levels, and covering all it's exits.

''Bout time." Kurt smirked.

Kurt felt Magneto trying to take hold of him with his power. He felt the iron in his blood responding to Magneto's rage.

"Funny thing about me." He told Magneto. "I only have one-eighth the iron of a normal man in my blood."

He teleported away and the sound echoed throughout the bell tower. He continued to speak but from where was uncertain.

"My blood is mostly copper based." He said slyly.

The sounds of his teleporting echoed again and everyone found themselves searching the darkness for their intruder.

"And my sword." He laughed loudly and a little madly. "It's a high grade, experimental – _plastic_." He hissed the last word.

Mystique lunged forward. "There!" She screamed, pointing to the second level from the third.

"In the …" 

**__**

Bamf.

"Shadows." She looked around again. He was no where to be seen.

"Hi mom." He said from a new point of concealment. "Glad you could make it."

"Come out!" Magneto roared and the building shook as he reached out in all directions, trying to find Kurt. "I have come too far to be stopped now!"

"We're in partial agreement." Kurt told him. "_You've gone too far_."

"How Xavier-esque of you." Magneto sneered. "I suppose next you'll tell me …"

Kurt jumped, spun, and teleported again. This time – in to the empty space – right before the hovering Magneto.

"_Shut up_." Kurt hissed and he let the sword trace a path across Magneto's neck.

The sword sank in through the surprised mans throat, nearly severing his head, and knocking his helmet off.

Magneto barely had enough time to register his surprise on his face before he lost control of his powers and began to fall.

Kurt reached out and grabbed him by the hair. Another swift stroke brought the head completely off. 

And Kurt teleported away to safety, the head tucked under his arm.

The body slipped silently past the room full of onlookers, seemingly, in slow motion.

A series of five teleports echoed, distantly, around the bell tower – obviously to confuse any pursuers.

Magneto's head rolled up to Mystique's feet out of the darkness.

A heavy silence hung in the air as floor after floor of Magneto's acolytes looked on in slack-jawed horror.

Two heartbeats passed before his body landed with a heavy, wet and metallic crash on the stone floor below.

And another two heartbeats passed in abject silence as the dust settled over the corpse who would be king.

"Well mom." Kurt said slyly from within the shadows. "How do you like your Christmas gift?"

"Too right!" Pyro announced, back-peddling like he might run.

"Hold your positions everyone!" Mystique called out. _We are all in danger._ She realized.

"Nothing like a military coup … to bring a family together." Kurt laughed again.

"**Kurt**! … Kurt_ .._. _Son_." She said softly. "What is it that you want?"

Kurt laughed. "It's about time someone asked me that." He replied just as softly.

"We're going to be a family." He told her. "You and I and this group of _losers_ here." He explained. "And we're going to succeed where Magneto failed." He told her. 

"How are we going to do that?" She asked quietly, her eyes searching the shadows for her son.

"Our mission has changed." He told her. "We're not fighting the X-Men anymore."

"We're not?" The Blob asked out loud – and Mystique shot him a look that said 'Be quiet'.

"No." Kurt assured him. "We're going to let them win – we're going to let Xavier lay down and dictate Mutant policies to the world."

"And what, exactly, are we going to do – while he's off _saving the world_?" Mystique asked.

"We're going to … _clear the path for him_." He said, his voice full of humor.

"Political _assassination_…" She realized and whispered out loud.

"_Ja_." Kurt hissed. "And I'm starting with anyone in this room – who _isn't_ on board."

"_I_ like it." Toad said too quickly. 

"Same here." Lance crossed his arms as he spoke.

"Why not?" Gambit asked, looking over the rail at Magneto's headless boy "He aint writin' no checks – _no more!_"

"Little one!" Colossus called. "This is _not_ for me." He assured him. "Magneto – he keeps my sister alive – on a machine. I need to tend to her."

Kurt sat silent for a moment. "_Join the X-Men_." He whispered. "They can help you – and then I wont have to kill you. But keep your mouth shut – or no machine will be able to save her from …:"

Suddenly Sabertooth leaped from a shadow and pounced on Kurt. In a moment, he had tore Kurt across his face and was sinking his claws in to Kurt's throat.

And again, the sound echoed throughout the tower. Bamf!

Bamf. Bamf, bamf …

And Sabertooth's head rolled up to join Magneto's.

Mystique shifted to stand on her toes. Magneto's head was leaking blood from it's clean and perfect cut. Sabertooth's was just a rough and bloody mess. _He must have teleported it off! _She realized.

Kurt's breath was labored and strained as he spoke. "One more head and, _I swear_, I'm going to take them all home to decorate our tree." He chuckled, sickly.

"Kurt?" Mystique asked of the darkness. "Are you …"

"I'll live." He said, stepping out of the shadows. His face was torn open under his one eye and blood covered his chest and neck. But he strode confidently up to her, tuning out the pain.

Pyro whistled a low steady tone of surprise.

Kurt looked down and realized that Colossus and Pietro were gone.

He turned back to Mystique. "Bring Magneto's head." Kurt told her. "I think I'll send it to Wanda – as an invitation to join us." He smiled. 

"Now." Kurt commanded the rest of them. "Let's go _home_."


	18. Flickering Souls Ch18 Kurt and The Aut...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Eighteen: Kurt and The Author

The Author sat quietly in his Bayville office. He was staring out the window absently.

Not doing much of anything.

Just … chilling out.

Not doing … anything at all.

Someone wretched in the bathroom and That Author made a sympathetic yet disgusted face.

The sound came again, this time accompanied by the sound of a semi-solid flow and the flush of a toilet.

"There's mouthwash in the cabinet." The Author called in to the room.

Someone groaned appreciatively.

A few moments later Kurt came stumbling out of the bathroom, holding his stomach.

"I can't believe what I did this week." He began.

He spoke the words slowly and with great care. " **I _killed_ **a** _man_.** "

He met The Authors eyes. "It seemed so … _logical_." He shook his head.

The Author looked upon him with a sympathetic stare. "You see where you went wrong, don't you?"

"I think so. I vas justifying things. Making excuses to do what I wanted"

"In order to punish the people you thought were guilty." The Author added.

"_Ja_." Kurt put a hand to his stomach and it made a noise.

"Instead of what you normally do – protecting people from exactly that kind of punishment."

"That _is_ a part of vat we do …" He sounded astonished. "I never saw it that way." He shook his head.

"And you notice how, when you were evil – no opportunities to be good arose? It was all about being bad, wasn't it?"

"It vas." He said thoughtfully. "It vas a dark … **_path_** …It _only_ led to … _dark places_."

Kurt seemed lost in thought and The Author imagined him back on the forked path behind the mansion.

"Now, let me ask you." The Author made a face, as though he didn't want to bring it up. "Do you think you'll be able to face Scott in the morning? Or Jean?"

Kurt searched The Author's eyes. "Mein _Gott_!" he exclaimed before slowly breathing the name "_Jean."_

He looked exasperated.

"How can I go back there?" He looked imploringly across the desk. "After what I did with Jean." He was shaking his head in disbelief. "How could I be so selfish and … _callous_?" He shuddered. "I can't go back. I just can't."

"You did it because you thought no one would ever know. And they wont know once you get back. Cant you just pretend it didn't happen?" The Author asked cautiously.

"_I'll know_!" Kurt exclaimed in anger. "And it'll be like dat _forever_. Wont it?" He swallowed. "I violated their trust. _Both of them_. I …"

"But you do see how – when facing a situation like this – someone like your mother might just ignore it away, right? How darkness, be it real or of the soul, provides concealment, but not cover? And how it traps you on that path when you know your actions can't stand the scrutiny of the light?"

"Ja." He cast his eyes to the floor. "You may be invisible, but you're totally exposed."

Kurt nodded slowly with a distant look in his eyes. "It's like you're living a hopeless life." He sighed.

"Then I don't think you need to worry about this anymore." The Author smiled and pushed a button on his phone. "Send her in." He told his assistant.

The door behind Kurt opened, and Jean came in, casting a series of suggestive glances at Kurt.

"Kurt," The Author began. "I know you are familiar with her, but please allow me to introduce Ms. Madeline Pryor."

Kurt looked like a marionette that had been jerked up by the head. "Vat?" He said, suddenly hopeful.

"I'm a look-alike." Her eyes twinkled as she spoke. "He recruited me from a few dimensions over." 

"So I didn't …" Kurt looked between the two of them.

"You didn't betray anyone." The Author told him. "Least of all yourself."

Kurt sighed in relief.

"Too bad for this '_Jean'_ of yours." Madeline smiled. "I wouldn't have _missed it_ for _anything_."

Kurt flushed and looked embarrassed.

Maddie took a deep breath in through her teeth as she stretched. "But, I tell you, you might have ruined me." She smiled coyly. "That tail is _sexy_." She hissed.

Kurt swallowed sheepishly and shot her a knowing glance as his tail tossed itself idly behind him.

"Like when you wrapped it around my waist and held the spade in the small of my back?" She seemed content to recall every detail.

""Okay." The Author stopped her. "We've all had our fun with embarrassing Kurt." He told her. "Ready to go home?" He asked her.

"Sure." She smiled. "But ahhh…" 

The Author raised a suspicious eyebrow. 

"Can you put me near my world's Kurt?" She smiled slyly. "Men with prehensile tails are a little hard to come by." She told him flatly. "And I guess I'm still in the mood." She smiled broadly at Kurt.

"Sure." That Author smiled and clapped his hands once. She disappeared in to a cloud of red dust.

Kurt looked crestfallen.

"Oh, come on Kurt – She was _evil_." He paused for a moment. "_Evil_. Totally, man."

He still looked wistful and depressed.

"Want to hear something funny?" The Author asked.

Kurt drew his head up attentively.

"Her world's Kurt?"

"Ja?"

"Gay." The Author nodded several times.

A smile played about the corners of Kurt's mouth for a moment before breaking in to a rather serene smile.

"Thanks. Vheather it's true or not." 

"Oh, it's true. He's flaming." 

They exchanged amused smiles.

"He even plays Frank at the Rocky Horror Picture Show." The Author said quickly.

"Vat?"

"Nothing." The Author smiled.

"So vhere was my worlds Jean?"" Kurt asked cautiously.

"Hawaii. With her parents." The Author supplied. "Christmas Vacation."

The Author checked his watch. "Your time is almost up." He told Kurt. "Your sister's due here anytime."

Kurt smiled brightly. "No vone here ever really calls her that." 

"It's how everyone in my world thinks of you two." The Author told him. "We all think it was very cool the way you took to the role."

Kurt smiled wide. "You know …" He said slowly. "I never thought …"

Kurt took a deep breath and almost looked like he might cry. "Just … _thank you_." He said softly. "That's a _cool_ thing to know."

The Author leaned attentively on his desk. "Do you know where you would like to go?" 

"Ja." Kurt smiled slowly. "It's Christmas Eve, right?"

The Author nodded with a knowing smile. (See Chapter One)

"Then drop me downtown. Near First Street." Kurt straitened himself in anticipation. 

The Author raised his hands. "Kurt." He said. "Merry Christmas."

He clapped his hands once, and Kurt bamphed away, in a cloud of smoke and brimstone, leaving only his voice echoing around the room as he said "Ja, and you too!"


	19. Flickering Souls Ch19 Christmas Eve Aga...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Nineteen: Christmas Eve Again – The Gift of Hope

"You're going to make me forget this, aren't you?" Rogue asked nervously.

"I was going to." He admitted. "Because you weren't a main character in this one." He paused. "Do you want to remember it?"

"Ah don't know for sure, but Ah think I do. I mean, it happened – and I signed the contract that helped it happen. Ah feel entitled."

"Sounds reasonable." He volunteered. "Scott wont remember you know. Not until he breaks up with Jean permanently. Then he'll get it all back."

"When it doesn't matter anymore." Rogue nodded her understanding

"And he'll be content with that." The Author smiled.

"But … there's still something ah just don't understand … about you, and your world ah guess." She hesitated.

"What is it?" He asked softly.

"Why do you do this?" She asked him plainly. "Why do you watch us like this? And write us? What do you get out of it?"

He sat back in his chair and eyed her for a moment. Then he turned away and looked out the window.

"You live in what I call a PG world." He told her. "My world would need a different alphabet to get a proper rating."

He cast a glance back to her to see if she was listening. She was.

"My world has a saying – about God really, but it applies to heroes too." He seemed thoughtful and considerate of his next words. "It says that if these things did not exist – we would create them out of necessity."

He paused. "Because we have atrocities that make your worlds horrors seem like Saturday morning television."

"Is it really … that bad?" She asked slowly.

"No." He said. "It's really beautiful when it's left to it's own devices. But people in my world cant leave well enough alone. And it's all unbalanced, forever waiting to over-react."

He could tell by the look in her eye that he had lost her.

"So much so that our president can go to war without the approval of congress, but I can't light my disposable American flag lighter without taking off the safety first." He nodded.

She smiled then laughed, despite herself, trying to cover her mouth. "Ah'm sorry, but that's _really_ sick."

He smiled back. "I know." He shrugged. "So we need heroes. And that's why we watch you, why I write you, and why I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be. Particularly for the holidays."

He smiled at her fondly. "Tell me, before I send you home, is there anything else? Something I could do for you, for the holiday tomorrow?"

She paused, demurely. "Ah'm fine, but …" She seemed to be smiling at a memory. 

He waited patiently for her to continue.

"Scott. He likes fresh snow for Christmas." She explained.

"Done." He smiled and very quietly clapped his hands together in front of him, once, and Rogue vanished in to a cloud of sweet blue perfume.

He then turned his attention back out the window. And he made the snow begin to fall.

Epilogue: Christmas Morning

Rogue crept down the stairs. She could hear Kurt talking below.

"See? I told you so." He was saying.

"You're right." Scott confirmed. "It looks totally different from down here."

"Last years vas smaller." Kurt continued.

"No question." Scott agreed. "This years tree is definitely … _huge_."

Rogue was rounding the stairs and almost fell over Scott and Kurt – who were sitting on the floor at the base of the stairs– almost under the tree.

"Rogue, come sit here." Kurt called to her.

"No thanks." She said, eyeing the floor but smiling none the less.

Scott reached up and snatched her by the sleeve and pulled her down next to him. "Sorry." He explained. "But it took Kurt half an hour to convince me to try it – and I just can't listen to it any more." He smiled. 

"Look up." Scott told her.

And she did.

"Whoa." She blinked three or four times and wiped at her eyes.

Suddenly, the scent of the thick and hearty pine hit her like a playfully thrown Christmas scrapbook, and she too was enthralled.

"It's the only way to get the full effect. You miss half the tree when you're standing next to it." Kurt explained, plugging in the lights.

And he did seem to be correct, because there, stretching out before them was, perhaps, Bayville's largest non-public Christmas tree.

It was strung in gold and blue tinsel, with small blue and white lights, and tastefully dotted with ornaments; no two alike, and all made so as to depict stars as seen from space.

And high atop the tree, in the place of the traditional star, there was a fiber-optic display. It was a fountain of fluid blue and white sparkles that seemed to flow up, out of the tree, and then cascade down, seemingly to become the softly twinkling lights nestled within the branches.

Only Kurt heard the soft tapping from outside. 

Or the gentle "Caw" of the bird as it swept away from the house and across the lawn.

Rogue and Scott didn't even notice when he stood up and crossed over to the door. 

They didn't hear it open or close again after he stepped out.

So it follows to believe that they never saw the small gift-wrapped box or read the card that held his name.

Or saw him open the little box, and then close it again, in a tearful gratitude.

He searched the tree line and then the fence before he found what he was looking for.

He smiled, and opened the box again. This time pulling out the thin gold chain with it's square ruby charm and pulling it on, over his head.

The bird cawed again and then was gone.

"Kurt?" The Professor wheeled out slowly, pausing to close the door behind him. "Did I just feel …"

"_Hope_, Professor." Kurt whispered slowly, casting his eyes from his necklace to the now empty fence. 

He turned to face Xavier. "And even if you didn't feel it, don't worry about it." 

He cast his gaze back across the lawn. "Because … I veel it enough for everyone." And Kurt smiled. "_Alvmost_ **all da time**." Then, with great care, he wiped his eyes and opened the mansion door for the Professor.


	20. Flickering Souls Ch20 Additional Stuff...

Flickering Souls

Chapter Twenty: Additional Stuff You Shouldn't See

The Author sat down and exhaled. Rogue had just vanished. The story was over.

"You can come out now." The Author called.

The shadows stirred in the corner of The Authors office and Professor Xavier wheeled himself out.

"What's with the funny little smile Charles?" The Author asked.

"I was thinking of Kurt again." Xavier smiled. "He looked so guilty when Ms. Pryor was … _reflecting_ … on their relationship." He chuckled slightly.

"Yeah. When his tail seemed to get a mind of it's own. I remember." The Author smiled back at him. "_I wouldn't have missed it for anything!_" The Author said, imitating Maddie.

Xavier covered his mouth while he chuckled.

"Well, they're yours again. All safe, sound and accounted for." The Author sighed.

Xavier nodded. "And no one found out about our arrangement. As we agreed."

"Yeah, what is that all about Charles?" The Author asked.

Xavier shot The Author a serious look. "I cant very well enforce discipline at the mansion if my students know I'm willing to play dice with the universe." He shook his head. "Signing that contract was a great personal leap of faith." He assured The Author.

"They might figure it out you know." The Author smiled.

Xavier made a dismissive gesture. "They'll think it was Scott. And until he remembers otherwise …" Xavier shrugged.

"And even then, he'll have his hands full with the memory. Any thought of contracts is going to be secondary."

"Exactly." Xavier agreed. "And I can go back to sleeping at night." He smiled.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I let Scott know how Rogue felt about him. Not so much for Scott, but for you. I had no idea he was going to radiate disappointment while he sulked …"

"It was awfully distracting some nights." Xavier agreed. "And between that and Kurt's hurt feelings over Mystique … He needed to believe again. He needed the hope that things between them could change." Xavier paused in the memory. "It was like living on a roller coasted of disappointment and rejection. This way …"

"Your house is in order." The Author finished.

"And who knows? Maybe he could reach her." Xavier shrugged. "So tell me … Do you think Scott lived up to his promise?"

The Author smiled. "You mean from _Everything Important_? When he promised to give Rogue his best if they ever found themselves together?" The Author nodded as he thought about it. "Yeah, I guess so. In my eyes anyway."

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked "In your eyes?"

The Author shrugged. "I think Scott was having a romantic moment when he said that. And the promises made during romantic moments are best applied to romantic logic. Maybe I think that's what he was promising – To be at his romantic best."

Xavier steepled his fingers. "I see. And you don't feel that he did that in this story?"

"Now, I didn't say that." The Author told him. "I personally feel that he did things for Rogue in this story that he's never do for Jean. First off, he signed a contract that allows me one third access to a universe." The Author looked like a thought just struck him. "He was playing dice, just like you." He pointed at Xavier.

"He was indeed." Xavier looked surprised. "I almost didn't notice."

"And with Rogue … He _couldn't_ loose her. He just couldn't allow it to happen. No matter what. He fought her and he won. And you and I both know that Rogue always has the advantage in that kind of conflict. He didn't have it in him to blast Jean to keep her down when Mezmero grabbed her. And he wouldn't have it in him to do so if he grabbed her tomorrow."

Xavier considered this.

"And to me?" The Author continued. "That's above his normal level of excellence. Probably, it was his best. Romantic or not."

Xavier nodded. "I see. So you feel that he lived up to his promise, although he may not – Because he may have had a romantic notion of what he meant when he made the promise."

"Yeah. But I'll be out of here by the time this becomes an issue." He shrugged. "If ever. He and Jean get married in more than half the worlds I've seen. He may never get his memory back. Not of this event of or Abair's disclosure of Rogue's feelings."

"It's probably all for the best." Xavier said with an air of finality. 

"Probably." The Author agreed.

"So what will you do now? Move on to another Story? I see you owe Wanda one now."

"Oh, sure. I'll write on." He smirked. "When I'm not selling bootleg copies of Scott singing Stand By Your Man to other fans." 

Xavier paused. "You… you didn't actually … tape it, did you?"

The Author held up a videocassette and rattled it at Xavier.

"Here." He said. "Take this one home."

Xavier looked at the tape and considered. "I had … I had better not." He grinned. "I wouldn't want anyone else to see it. But …"

"You want to watch it now?" The Author smiled as he spoke. "I've got a machine right here."

Xavier seemed to be debating something internally.

"I am … curious." He smiled. "To say the least."

The Author leveled a gaze in to Xavier's eyes.

"He was so drunk," The Author began. "That he fell off the stage like Jim Morrison used to. And couldn't get back on. It ended his song."

Xavier's eyes twinkled with incredulity and disbelief.

Xavier cast a knowing glance at the readers and then back to The Author.

"End the story … and dim the lights." Xavier grinned. "I have a feeling this isn't for … everyone's eyes." 

The Author shrugged at the readers. "What'cha gonna do?" he asked them. "When the man is right, the man is right."

The Author clapped his hands once in front of him … And the next thing you knew … you were somewhere else … just sitting in front of a computer.


End file.
